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Dear People of the Northstate Vision:
From the moment of its launching Jesus’ earthly ministry was about fostering paradigm shift. His first public statement – “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven draws near to you,” called for two such shifts – the first in the notion that our thoughts and ways could become like those of God as we turn our lives progressively and radically over to Him and the second in that God was pursuing His people in the midst of spiritual bankruptcy and foreign occupation. The idea that transformation of character – forgiveness – could lead to transformation of circumstance – healing – was a paradigm reversal. But the reality that God would fully reveal Himself in a man – and that a personal commitment to God through His own death and resurrection is the sole path to genuine human life – calls for the most radical shift of all time. Understanding follows (it does not precede) acceptance of these things – another paradigm reversal for us.
Diana and I have seen a number of paradigm shifts in the Northstate over the eight years since our arrival here – and undergone a few ourselves. I think the most radical shift in my personal experience is the one expressed in God’s word to me a few months ago, “You show up and I’ll show off.” He made this point in reference to the miraculous catch of fish depicted in Luke 5:1-11 – the fish were certainly available, but the miracle would never have happened unless the exhausted fishermen were willing to obey the Lord’s calling at the Lord’s timing. The same common denominator applies to virtually every miracle we see in the Gospels from turning water to wine – “Fill these jugs.” – to feeding a multitude – “You give them something to eat.” – to receiving the Holy Spirit “Go into the city and wait.” I reflected that I have seen it apply to the major league miracles I have personally witnessed from making a zone of cool weather for the Jesus March while the rest of the county sweltered in hundred-degree heat to the hundreds of healings I have personally witnessed to seeing God make oil for anointing out of nothing when Diana obeyed His command to pour oil on a woman’s back from a clearly empty bottle. In each case the common denominator was that if we showed up we got to see a miracle – an intervention that would have been as available as the fish but of no use to us unless we were present out of obedience. His provision intersected our submission – on His time-table – and there were no two ways about it. His instructions seem often strange and almost always inconvenient. Yet when we show up – at His scripturally recognizable command and in His timing – expecting Him to show off – He never fails.
The biggest news on the horizon for PrayNorthstate is the expansion of PrayNorthstate Radio to a full hour. On Saturday, May 22, Regent Broadcasting moved us from 7:30 AM on Saturdays to 8:00 AM – giving us the full 8:00 hour. This will be our regular slot on KQMS from now on and it is a great honor for the ministry – the Regent folks actually initiated this change in their programming. At the same time there is an increase in the cost of airtime – coming along with the cost of producing PrayNorthstate TV. Although we avoid using this newsletter for fundraising we will deeply appreciate any gifts or pledges to help fund these programs. The combined costs of radio and TV programs are now at approximately $1100.00 per month.
We offer the Intercessors’ Summit training at First Baptist Church in Red Bluff on Friday and Saturday, June 25 and 26. Friday Night begins at 7:00 PM and Saturday sessions run from 8:30 to 5:00 PM. Breakfast and lunch are included in the $20.00 registration fee and participants will be trained in the ministries of PrayerVanguard and Lighthouses of Prayer while learning of the statewideprayer movement and the coming of the Pah-ho-ami prayer project to the Northstate. (Red Bluff has one of the most dynamic Vanguard ministries in California – under the leadership of Pastor Francis Avoryie.) Call First Baptist at 530-527-4361 for information or registration.
There will be no First Sunday service in June, as we held a special edition of First Sunday on the last Sunday in May for the Day of Pentecost. Excalibur Group will meet at DeMercurio’s Restaurant on June 3 and 17 from 12:30 to 2:00 PM. All believing business persons are welcome to share lunch and pray for the transformation of the Northstate region. First Sunday will be held on Sunday, July 3, at 7:00 PM at Holiday Inn on Hilltop Drive in the Espresso Bar – as usual.
Jim and Diana had the privilege of ministering at Copco Community Church in Montague on May 23. Jim taught Sunday School and preached at the 11:00 AM service – and we are invited back in July for preaching and offering a workshop on being Ambassadors of Reconciliation. Jim will be preaching for two successive Sundays at First Baptist Church in Red Bluff – June 13 and 20 – at 10:15 AM . He will travel to MadRiver to preach and lead a combined service of the four community churches of Mad River at Lamb’s Creek Community Church at 6:00 PM on Sunday, June 27. The service will include Holy Communion and prayer for the continuing transformation of this composite community sitting astride Trinity and HumboldtCounties . Jim travels to Southern California for Plano West – a meeting of Episcopalians committed to the Word of God and the Great Commission – June 2-4. He will be in HonoluluJune 15-18 for meetings connected to The Road to Jerusalem.
Diana has completed work on the more than a dozen new designs for her jewelry and other craft items. She had the chance to show off her wares – and support the ministry with the proceeds – when she and Jim were invited to participate in the Shasta Homeand Health Fair at Redding’s Mt. Shasta Mall on Saturday, May 22.
There is much Kingdom activity inShastaCounty over the summer. On Thursday, June 17, the Shasta County Fair opens with a night of Christian music. Titled Celebration of the Spirit, the evening will commence in the afternoon – at 3 PM – from the fairground’s Pepsi Stage – with music from local Christian bands I Witness, Jeduthun, and Love Poured Out – and games and give-aways. The featured performer will be Mark Schultz, a ten-time Dove Award nominee who scored major league with his cross-over hit, “He’s My Son.” The song that broke into the secular market dealt with a father’s plea to God to save his son from a terminal disease. The event is co-sponsored by Shasta County Fair, Outreach America, K-LOVE Radio, Air-1 Radio, Little Country Church, Destiny Fellowship, and PrayNorthstate. Lead Sponsor and organizing ministry honors go to Gateway Fellowship of Anderson with Youth PastorIvan Richesen shouldering both the vision and the burden for this event. Admission isfreewith a fair general admission ticket or $10.00 without. This is a wonderful opportunity to impact the county and region with the Gospel as Christian music and witness are mainstreamed at this major secular event. We are urging the whole Body to turn out – and bring a pre-believing friend along for the fun and the testimony!
If you feed them they will come.Two new Christian coffee houses have opened in the past month, both offering a combination of good coffee-oriented drinks and a gathering place for believers and pre-believers to share the peace and pleasure of God. TheSpillway is located in ShastaLakeCity and features live music along with the drinks and the witness. Breaking New Grounds is located at the corner of Yuba and PineStreets in Redding and features comfortable chairs and the only place (I know of) in town to serve low carb mocha drinks! (It is also the taping location for PrayNorthstate TV.) Elsewhere in Redding the Tac(o) the Town Tacqueria is also open – this Mexican restaurant on Bechelli Lane boasts a stage area that is perfect for the owners’ vision to host Christian music concerts while the patrons eat and enjoy.
The Redding Area Board of Aglow International will bring In-Focus Leadership Training to Redding July 9-10 at SimpsonCollege . Speakers include Aglow International US Director Caroline Suty, International President JaneHansen (via video link), and California Prayer Coordinator Julia Reiff. In-Focus Training is a nationwide ministry of Aglow seeking to develop leadership in the Church that is tuned to specific mandates God has placed on Aglow for evangelizing Islam, for male-femalereconciliation, and for cooperating with God’s plans for a resurrected Israel . Breakout sessions will focus on these mandates while general sessions will be more generic to Aglow’s mission of praying and caring worldwide. Cost is $55.00 and the conference is open to all – male and female. Call Naida Rohrbach at 530-222-5859 for information or to register.
The annual signs and wonders conference event at Redding’s Bethel Church will be held from June 22-25. This year’s event is titled Breakthrough Anointing and will feature internationally rnowned speakers Mahesh Chavda, Todd Bentley and Bethel’s Senior Pastor BillJohnson. Chavda founded the Church of All Nations in Charlotte , North Carolina . Bentley is especially known for healing crusades in third-world nations. Johnson’s book – When Heaven Invades Earth – is becoming a bestseller. Registration is $60.00 before June 19 and $70.00 after. BethelChurch will also host the annual School of Supernatural Worship – with Donn and Christine Potter – from July 6-23. Call 530-246-6000 regarding either event.
Redding’s Little CountryChurch – home base for Outreach America – hosts a faith-based substance abuse program called Divine Wine. Meetings are Tuesday Eveningsfor families and Thursday Eveningsfor substance abusers. Philemon Fellowship – a ministry by and for ex-offenders meets Friday Evenings. Call 530-222-4092 regarding these opportunities.
Healing Rooms are now open in Nevada County (since May 6) and about to open (June 19) in ShastaCounty . Staffed by volunteers from across all denominational lines the rooms are birthing in many parts of the United States with the greatest number in California . The model was pioneered in Spokane, Washington , by CalPierce – a visionary with roots in Redding’s Bethel Church who considers himself a disciple of JohnG.Lake . Volunteers are trained through a video series produced by Pierce and then receive hours of hands-on training in Nevada City and County; in Redding the training comes through the Bethel Church School of Ministry – location of the Redding room and site of several thousand dramatic healings over the past eight years. People needing healing enter the rooms when they are open (schedules vary) and receive extended or soaking prayer from teams of male and female volunteers. Leaders comment on the fact that the church stream of volunteers and clients alike seems to be irrelevant in terms of effectiveness. Results are often spectacular and are always medically confirmed. For information contact the Rev. Dan Prout ( NevadaCity ) at 530-478-1478 or Pastor Beni Johnson ( Redding ) at 530-246-6000. Prout calls it a deliberate decision to launch the NevadaCounty rooms on the National Day of Prayer.
In Butte County the regional pastors and intercessors will visit Live Oak on Sunday, June 27. Hosted by Live Oak Assembly and the Fathers’ House, they will prayerwalk the entire city, praying under the direction of local pastors. They will return to Live Oak Assembly for a potluck supper and a viewing of the Quickenings video from George Otis’ Sentinel Group. Earlier in the year the group walked and blessedRedding , Oroville, and Red Bluff.
On June 10 the Chico Prayer House – temporarily located at the Vineyard of Chico will host a special night of worship and intercession for the business community. Worship led by Ken Winton begins at 7:00 PM . The Prayer House is an interdenominational prayer and worship ministry that is community-based.
Also in Butte County the PrayNorthstate Gridley Prayer Vanguard is one of the most dynamic prayer ministries in the Northstate. In May Dwayne and Jenine Tenabe took the crew to bless the school district offices in Biggs and they plan to return for more school blessings in September. The June 5 Vanguard adventure will take the team to the Butte County Housing Authority and Labor Camp.
The Intercessors’ Summit returns to Cottonwood on September 24 and 25 – Fridayand Saturday – with First Baptist Church of Cottonwood playing host. The summit will offer training for Prayer Vanguard and Lighthouses of Prayer while providing opportunities to participate in the various statewide prayer ministries that are shaping the Kingdom in California. A special attraction for Fall summits will be the unveiling of the Pah-ho-ami Project of targeted prayer for the community. Registration is $20.00 with breakfast and lunch included. Call 530-347-3691 for info or to register.
Pah-ho-ami is the name of the northern adaptation of a most successful prayer project undertaken in NevadaCounty in 2002 . Intercessors targeted the Kingdom/Community issues of unemployment, public safety, and crime for special attention. Participants covenanted to pray daily for God’s intervention in these areas of concern. God intervened – and results were documented – with dramatic results. PrayNorthstate plans to launch Pah-ho-ami in September for our region. Watch for details but pray now.
PrayNorthstate Radio will open June with Christian psycho-therapists Don Ostendorf and Barry Byrne on June 5. Both men are marriage and family counselors applying their faith to their practice. On June 12 the program will be double-barreled. We will feature Pastors Ivan Richesen and Dick Kimbrough – organizers of Celebration of theSpirit night at Shasta County Fair during the first half of the broadcast; Lee Craig of the Point Man veterans’ ministry will guest during the second half. Pastors Danny Silk and Jon Thompson will come on the air on June 19 to talk about the mentoring program they have launched in conjunction with campus chaplains at EnterpriseHighSchool. We will round out the month with Ginger Murray – a Christian who made single motherhood such a calling that she wrote a book about it. Ginger guests on June 26 and prevents us from having an all-male month for guests.
PrayNorthstate TV enters the second month of broadcasting with a new taping location – the Breaking New Grounds Coffee Shop at Pine and Yuba Streets in Redding. Guesting on June 7 are Pete and Susie Lorenzen of Outreach America. We are joined by Captain Wayne Wetter (Salvation Army) and Sherie Saunders (Carenet PregnancyCenter) on June 14. Chaplain Dave Honey and Steve Davis of Good NewsRescue Mission’s In-Step program sit in on June 21. We complete our June installments with Leslie Tuxhorn and Howard Leedy – two people who have experienced God’s radical power to heal in very different ways – on June 28.
PrayNorthstate Radio is heard every Saturday Morning at 8:00 on AM 1400 KQMS. Jim is also a periodic and frequent contributor to KVIP’s Saturday Magazine, heard at 1:00 PM on FM 98.1 and AM 540 KVIP. PrayNorthstate TV can be seen each Monday Morning at 6:30 AM on Family Channel 26/Cable 15.
Please pray for the new PrayNorthstate Television ministry, for revival in the whole Body of Christ, for the Road to Jerusalem Project, and for Pray California to become the catalyst for unity that it is called to become. Please pray for the leaders of California in government, education, business, the arts, and in the Church to become filled with God’s vision for the state – and please pray Matthew 11:2-6over California.
Please pray for financial stability for PrayNorthstate. Pray also for Anderson-Cottonwood Christian Leadership, Northern California Renewal Fellowship, the Weed Prayer Association, the Northern and Southern Siskiyou County Ministerial Associations, the Tehama County Ministerium, the Humboldt Evangelical Alliance, Pray Chico, Happy Camp, Live Oak and Gridley pastors, and the Prayer Vanguard ministries now operating in fifteen communities. Pray for Capitol Prayer Net and Pray California, the youth pastors networks, for Outreach America, and for the school chaplaincy program of Youth for Christ. Pray for Enterprise High School’sParenting Program, the Northern California Burn Foundation, and God’s vision to raise ten thousand intercessors across Northern California to pray for His Kingdom.
Correspondence – and donations – may be addressed to PrayNorthstate, P. O. Box 493743, Redding, CA96049-3743. Call us at 530-941-3470. Our web site is www.praynorthstate.org; our e-mail is praynorthstate@charter.net.
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