June 27th, 2010 by Joe

Well, last night was very special for me and two other band members. We made it to Baja (pronounced boya) for our concert. While we waited to set up, we spent time with a local church leader, named Arnold. Arnold is an amazing man, with an amazing story. A Hungarian by heritage, he was called from his successful business and home in California to come to Hungary and bring the gospel to his people. He sold everything – a beautiful home and a very successful business, to buy a run down house, which he has transformed into an English school. People come from all over Hungary to learn English here.

Arnold has an infectious energy, and his zeal for life and the Lord could not be greater! His family is amazing; to watch his children effortlessly switch from English to Hungarian and back is amazing!

As we waited and spent time at the school, we learbed Arnold’s three sons and two of their friends were to be our opening act. They had just hatched the idea three days ago and began rehearsing their music downstairs in the basement, which has been restored and made into a sanctuary. There was a complete stage and sound system, so my curiousity was aroused…

As I watched the boys practice, our bass player and our sound tech began to help them by mixing sound. Those of you that know me and the calling the Lord has placed on my heart will not be surprised at what happened next. I approached the boys and began to talk with them about worship and some technical points on their playing. I gave a few tidbits of advice, and watched them play again.

I left the room for a moment and then the Lord clearly called to me – this was what I was being called to do! I ran back in the room excitedly ranting to our bass player and drummer; they knew immediately of what I was speaking about….

Each of us took our players – Drew (our drummer) began to talk through drum techniques with their drummer, I began to dial in the guitarists’ amp, and talk with the worship leader (Nate) about acoustic guitar techniques and visuals on stage. Tim (our bassist) worked with their bass player for a few minutes…

It was AMAZING! We stood there, the three of us, and watched as the Lord transformed this newly formed band into a worship band; and the players spirits soared. It was then that we realized this was something special. We worked through a few more songs, and then left for the concert; the three of us on fire with what happened. At the concert, the boys played exceptionally well, and were ear-to-ear grins as they played with a new found confidence. Tim, Drew and I couldn’t have been more proud of them!

After our concert, we hatched an incredible plan – what if we couild do this next year as part of our tour? What if we came to Baja 3-4 days early, and had a daily music workshop as part of the English school? What if each day we poured ourselves into the Hungarian musicians, and then performed concerts at night? We were incredibly excited; and the deal was struck! It will be next year…and revival will start from southern Hungary and move from there!

We were so excited about the idea and how the Lord used us that the concert became secondary to us last night. We played very well, and laughed and worshipped while on stage, but forever our memory of this night will be the boys, and how the Lord washed over them…what a feeling to be a part of that!

Tonight we play at Calvary chapel in Budapest…web site for the live broadcast is here. We start at 1 PM EDT…it will be in the archives after that under Bill Drake. If you see a broadcat with a girl on acoustic guitar (Jill) – that is LAST year’s event! We now have 5 men on stage; that will let you know you are watching the live feed.

I hope you watch the event; it will be around 1:45 long, but worth it. Pray for us, that we serve with excellence today, and lives will be changed because of it!

June 26th, 2010 by Joe

Just arrived back in Domos, after driving 4 hours from Baja…great concert there tonight. Some really cool stuff happened for me and a few others, but right now it is 430 am, and I need sleep….will write today when I wake up! Thanks for your prayers!

June 25th, 2010 by Joe

Thanks for the encouragement some of you have sent me; it has been a blessing. Thank you also for praying about the weather – we actually enjoyed 2 days of brilliant sunshine! Today it is cloudy again; please pray for fair weather as we have outdoor concerts the next two days.

Last night we played a concert in the town of Erd (pronouced “aired”). The concert venue had horrible acoustics, so we did the best we could. At the end of the concert, a woman came forward to me and asked that we pray for healing from high blood pressure. I was joined by 4 others as we prayed for her and spoke truth into her about God’s power and how magnificently she is createrd. So many times, we just accept a sickness or condition – even to the point of calling our own! How many times have you heard or said “my allergies” or “my sickness”? Proverbs 18:21 says “Death and Life are in the power of the tongue”. How many times have you seen people fulfill the words spoken over them “you’re a loser…”, “you’ll never be successful…”, etc…

The tongue has that power; coercing people to accept the lies of the enemy. We should instead rebuke those lies – “I will not accept high blood pressure”, “I will be a success (and God will get the glory!)…”. So many “12 step” programs already espouse this – why shouldn’t our most high God also be capable of healing emotional and physical wounds?

We have a friend who recently was healed of autsim – completely! The Lord did it; and to Him is the glory. We do NOT have to accept our “new normal” with sicknesses and afflictions. The bible says Jesus came so that we may have “life abundant” (John 10:10), and “that your joy may be made full” (John 15:11). Don’t you want this for yourself – and for others?

June 22nd, 2010 by Joe

Today we worked with the VBS some more; good times with the kids again! Our evening concert was cancelled due to rain (outdoor venues – the downside!)…so we went downtown Budapest for the afternoon after doing a devotional after lunch. The daily devotional time has been very good for the team, with each member contributing in song, testimony, or scripture. It really mimicks the early church model where the apostles would just meet where they could and worship, study the word and lift each other up.

Tomorrow is a light day; VBS in the morning, and no concert planned…but we are enjoying the rest, as we go to work Thurs – Sunday with concerts and long drives…The Sunday concert is going to be BROADCAST LIVE ON THE INTERNET!!! Will get you the web site as soon as I can….

Pray for the rain to stop – it is throwing the concerts for a loop; the Danube is overflowing its banks (really…badly…) and the mosquitos are INSANE!!!!

June 22nd, 2010 by Joe

Today we worked with the Vacation Bible School (VBS) in a local town. We led worship (informally – not a concert setup!), and then assisted the members of our team involved with the VBS. The joy in the children’s faces was inspiring! Watching them sing the songs my children sing at VBS in the US and doing the same hand motions shows how universal God can be!

The afternoon was spent sightseeing up at the Slovakia border. We went to St. Stephen’s Cathedral; a very beautiful cathedral overlooking the Danube. We prayed for Hungary and Slovakia from the high point on the property, which had a beautiful view of both countries. The symbolism was obvious; the Old Testament was full of examples of priests (both Godly and unGodly) praying from “the high place” – usually a mountain overlooking the area from which you could bestow blessings and offer sacrifices to God. So…we prayed for restoration, we prayed for revival and we prayed for God’s mighty presence to fill the land again here. Join us in praying for Hungary while we are here…make it part of your daily routine as you wake up, or as you eat – whatever you do every day, insert that prayer in front of it…

June 18th, 2010 by Joe

I spoke in the last blog of forgiving the land. In Deuteronomy 11:26-28, God tells His people that His blessings accompany those who follow His commandments, and to those who do not, there is a curse “by following other gods which you have not known”…We are also reminded in Proverbs 26:2 that “as the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse without a cause shall not come”. God makes it clear that righteous living keeps a curse from alighting on one. In the Old Testament (which I liken to the New Testament concealed) God makes it clear that He will curse generations to come for ungodly behavior, yet in Leviticus 26:40-42 He states: “If they confess their iniquity (sin) and the iniquity of their forefathers…then I will remember my covenant with Jacob..and Isaac…and Abraham as well and I will remember the land”.

We can go to the land and ask God’s forgiveness for all of our sins and those of our forefathers. Jesus came to intercede for all sins, but they must be confessed to be forgiven (1 John 1:9). The mountain providing such a beautiful view in our windows is called Devil’s Mountain, and was the site of many pagan rituals and sacrifices…one can look at that in the light of the references above and know why we speak of forgiving the land here.

The team is varied; 5 dancers, 5 musicians, 2 photographers, 5 tech and support team, and 6 evangelists (okay; we are ALL evangelists…but you get my drift..these guys and gals rock!). We will be doing a mixture of full concerts (one to be broadcast live over the internet next week, as it was last year) street gigs and some camps. The idea is to bring the Gospel of the Kingdom to these folks out here. There are 5 (6 if you have certain versions of the Bible) references to preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom in the New Testament…in Hungary, many people feel that being born into Catholicism is all they need and now they have heaven assured…many no longer include Christ into their lives – even by a simple act of regular church attendance. We hope to change their viewpoint on what would be biblically considered a life of “lawlessness”…more on that in the next blog, as today and tomorrow we are spending getting acclimated and acquainted with each other, while rehearsing the band.

June 18th, 2010 by Joe

June 16th

Here we are yet again in Hungary! 2 weeks of concerts and street evangelism are planned. We are also going to pray for and forgive the land for past sins of paganism. We hope to break the generational curse on this country and Slovakia. Pray for us as we begin…today we prayed for the Jews slaughtered at the edge of the Danube; we visited the memorial on the banks and saw the dozens of bronzed shoes repesenting the people shot there, whose bodies were dumped in the river. We forgave those who did this act and asked God’s blessing there.

1 John 1:9 promises us God is faithful and forgives our sins if we confess them. We trust in that verse as we continue to reclaim this land for the Lord.

April 25th, 2010 by Joe

The missions fest ended today with the last of four worship services at Heritage Christian Church. What an incredible weekend turnout and response! So many people committed to spend at least two years in a foreign country evangelizing! Many others quickly committed to short term mission trip; Heritage had many great trips to great countries to choose from. As for me; Hungary will be the destination – we leave in mid June for two weeks. The whole family is going as well; it is time for my kids to see what missions work involves and just how important it is for us as believers. I am really looking forward to the town of Baja, around 3 hours south of Budapest. I believe God is going to to mighty things there, and it is one stop for our band on the trip.

I was appalled at the baggage charge I incurred on this trip – $375 total for shipping my amp both ways. That’s more than twice what it used to be. Part of me is thinking about a different means of bringing my sound with me – to the tune of $900, or raising even more support for my missions activities! The $900 option is a whole new system that would fit in my backpack and sound just fine…we’ll see what happens there…

The speaker at the missions fest was Mike Hack, who flew in from South Africa to speak about the importance of work in the missions field. He told a story of a widow that impacted so many people around her that they continued to donate money to her. She was quite happy to live on her meager income, and so took all of the donated money – to the tune of $4000/year – and gave it to 8 missionaries out in the field! All the while, nobody knew she was doing this! It was discovered after the missionaries came back to their supporting churches and thanked them for the money they had provided over the years. The supporting churches had no knowledge of money going out (!), but the missionaries said the money had come from the lady…needless to say, she made a significant impact on their work!

Mike also told a story of a friend that had been kidnapped by Hezbolla and interrogated for 3 days straight, without breaks. When asked who had sent him, his friend simply replied “Jesus”. When asked who was funding his activities, he simply said “Jesus”. This continued for 3 days, until at last the commander released this man, saying “we actually believe your story, and we will let you go” – unheard of for Hezbolla. When told this, Mike’s friend said he was disappointed in their decision – he had hoped they would have converted to Christianity! As they released him in Gaza, blindfolded to the drop site, the commander expressed his emotion that he would miss Mike’s friend; he had been a man of integrity with them. Mike’s friend told the Hezbolla interrogator and commander that he, too, would miss them, and expressed his love for them as humans and children of God. At this the commander wept, and he was released.

In the next month, 500 shiite muslims converted to Christianity….

If you don’t think you can make an impact, think again…

April 24th, 2010 by Joe

I find myself this week in Westerville, OH, at Heritage Christian Church for their missions fest. This church is unbelievable; ten years ago, the senior pastor made a commitment to God that they would commit 10% of the church revenue to missions, and ramp it up to 20%! During that time, God has exploded the growth of this church, and they have sent missionaries to 13 countries so far. This summer they have no less than 6 trips on the planning board!

The message here is one of commitment – if God can get the money through you, he’ll give it to you. This is not a prosperity Gospel where I tell you to give more to God and he’ll make you rich. What I am saying is to make a commitment to God to live at a certain salary level, and commit to God that any income above that level you will send to missionaries or churches – or any charity for that matter! What happens next will most likely blow you away! My wife and I are doing this right now; looking to define what we really NEED, not WANT and committing the rest to charity. I’ll keep you posted.

Another challenge is that of prayer for the nations. Between 10 degrees and 40 degrees north latitude exists a band of humanity that has no knowledge of Jesus Christ. As Americans, we find it hard to believe this, but there are really people out there that absolutely do not know about Jesus and his resurrection! Our job as missionaries is to get the word out, so that others may know of what Christ offers them. Look at a map sometime in the 10-40 window, as it is known, and pick some small town in a far off land. Start to pray for that town, that a church would be formed and people saved. Watch what begins to happen in your life. See those people in that far off land as children of God; loved by their creator. Forget their politics or current religous beliefs. Forgive their land for worshipping other gods or idols, and pray the name of Jesus will be known and the Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached to all!

Keep me posted on what town you pick, and what God is doing through this!

March 25th, 2010 by Joe

Hey all – blog and photo section were hacked recently; just restored all and should be blogging again shortly!