September Updates

Intro to IHOP
Eduardo just finished his 3-month internship term to now become a part of the IHOP Staff as a Full-Time Intercessory Missionary.  These past three months have definitely been life changing for him.  He just graduated on September 19th, 2008, but the learning doesn’t stop there.  Becoming a friend of the bridegroom is not just a three-month journey, but a life-long heart response to the everyday call of having a covenant relationship with Jesus. It’s telling Jesus every day: “Yes, Jesus.  I trust you’re leadership and I recognize that you are worth it all”.

Latino Ministries / Proyecto Lucas 18
Both Eduardo & I are involved in this ministry which is in its beginning stages.  Eduardo will be working the majority of the time helping in the Administration and Project Management and I will be working with the Website as well as the Latino Worship Team.  We’re so excited about this, considering the fact that I had a dream about 6 to 8 months ago and it was so detailed about this particular ministry birthing.  It’s just amazing to see it unfold right before our eyes.

Love & Respect Marriage Seminar
About 1 month ago, we started a 14-week seminar for Married Couples, as well as singles, called: “Love & Respect” by Emerson E. Eggerichs.  So far, this seminar has transformed our marriage.  It focuses on understanding how God created us differently (male & female), therefore, undertanding how we communicate, and how we can live a life and have a marriage that is pleasing to the Lord, according to the Scriptures.  Eduardo and I would love to share what we’ve been taught.

onething
Eduardo and I are also a part of onething.  onething is one of the main ministries in IHOP, dedicated to the young adults.  Right now, we’re working on the onething08 website (www.ihop.org/onething08).  The onething staff is so awesome. They have been so nice to us.  It feels like we’ve been working with them for a long time.  Eduardo got the chance to meet Dwayne Roberts in last week’s meeting and he says that Dwayne was so friendly and encouraging.

Children’s Equipping Center
Eduardo continues to work with the Children’s Equipping Center (CEC) every Sunday morning and guess what? I’ll be joining him next week! YAY!  Unlike a typical “Sunday School” class or Children’s Chapel,  CEC has a very unique way to work with children. Its so great to see kids from 6 to 12 years old worshiping God the same way that adults do, praying and interceding for each other, singing the Word, preaching, etc.  The Holy Spirit works in their lives in such a powerful way.  And it’s not “playing church” or “pretending” to do what mom and dad do in their service, but it’s the same exact service to the Lord, just with smaller people.  It’s really impacting.  I’m definitely learning a lot from them.

Well, that’s really it for now.  As you can see, we’re working a lot Keeping ourselves busy but never busy enough for ministry to replace our personal intimacy with God and with each other as a couple.  Please help us pray so that the Lord would continue to grant us Wisdom in how to balance and use our time in the way that pleases Him.

We love you all!

Michal Ann has Graduated to be with the Lord this day..

At 7:32 AM Michal Ann Goll stepped into Heaven

This past weekend I ministered in a conference hosted at Mahesh and Bonnie Chavda’s church in North Carolina. It was a powerful time and I was blessed to be a part of it. However I was in contact with Kathy Colbert, who has helped so much with Michal Ann during this season, and she made me aware that Michal Ann’s strength was slipping and that I needed to come home.

On Sunday night I did return home and my good friend Bill Greenman picked me up at the airport and we began making our way to the house. Earlier that day Mickey and Barbara Robinson had come over and prayed for Michal Ann and as they ministered to her, a big smile came to her face as they prayed. They were still at the house when we arrived; Bill came in with me and as he prayed for her, again a smile came over her face and a peace invaded our bedroom. As I spent the night in the room with her, I knew that she was nearing the end of her journey. The next morning, after I ministered to my wife through the night, Michal Ann breathed her last breath on earth and stepped into heaven to be with her Lord, her first love!

Michal Ann fought harder than anyone could have believed, including the doctors. I was always impressed with her fight to live until the last! Her legacy of Compassion Acts is going to live on in the hearts of many – and the lives that it is changing will help change the world to move in the Compassion of Jesus!

We will be having two services for Michal Ann as she is worth the double blessing. HA! One will be in Nashville, TN on Thursday and the other is in the process of being planned in Odessa, MO this weekend (details will be forthcoming). Michal Ann will be buried at the Dover Cemetery in Dover, MO. Donations in lieu of flowers on behalf of Michal Ann may be made to Compassion Acts https://ww2.micahtek.com/nexolive/nDonations.cfm?theFund=1050&&VISIBLE=false&CFID=16610223&CFTOKEN=74748056 to support the dream that she carried in her heart for the poor and broken of the earth. The details for all arrangements are below.

Details for the Nashville, TN Celebration service for Michal Ann Goll:

Thursday, Sept 18th

Visitation @ 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Memorial Service @ 2:00 p.m.

Belmont Church | 68 Music Square East | Nashville, TN 37203

Please feel free to pass this information on to others.

Never, Never quitting!!!

James W. Goll with Michal Ann praying me on!

If you would like to give in honor of Michal Ann Goll, checks can be made out to Compassion Acts and sent to PO Box 1653, Franklin, TN 37065, or contributions may be made online as well. Gifts are tax-deductible as allowed by law and a receipt for your donation will be mailed to you. Thank you for your support. To donate in honor of Michal Ann Goll: https://ww2.micahtek.com/nexolive/nDonations.cfm?theFund=1050&&VISIBLE=false&CFID=16610233&CFTOKEN=29289904

by James W. Goll | Sept 15, 2008
1-877-200-1604 | www.encountersnetwork.com

Fireproof Official Trailer

 In Theaters September 26, 2008

European Driving at Worlds of Fun

Eduardo, Gedy, Alex, Chelsea and Jessica today (Sept 1) at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, MO. It was fun!

I Cannot Please Everyone

So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. Matthew 15:6-9

I become like a circus juggler when I try to keep everyone’s opinions of me high in the air. One person thinks I should be like this; another scrutinizes me for something else. Do you get it too? Before long, all the expectations of other people come crashing down around our feet. Playing to the demands of others runs in opposition to authenticity.

Jesus lived with that kind of pressure. In His Sermon on the Mount, He focused primarily on the Pharisees, the Bible-thumpers of His day. On the positive side, the Pharisees took the Bible very seriously. They confronted error, they separated themselves from the world, they were hypersensitive to the application of God’s Word. So what’s wrong with that? Nothing–that’s all fine. But Jesus identified their acute internal problem in Matthew 15:8, “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Ouch! Furthermore, Jesus was simply quoting His Father, recorded back in Isaiah centuries before, when He gave the same spiritual diagnosis to the people of his time.

The Pharisees put on a good show, but Jesus saw right through it. They wanted to look like they had it all together with God, but hadn’t privately done the heart business with Him. Looking the part was all they cared about. As Jesus said, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them . . .” When Jesus used the term righteousness here, He was talking about practical righteousness, the things you do as a believer to outwardly express your heart before God—read your Bible, pray, share your faith, be in a small group, work for the Lord, give to the poor. Don’t do these to impress others, He warns. Pay attention, be on guard, He cautions. Play to an audience of One.

Notice He didn’t say you should hide your spiritual disciplines from people or enter a monastery. Some people have misunderstood His point. The issue isn’t location, it’s motive. People are going to see you live your life; that’s not the problem. You don’t have to keep secret the fact that you go to church, raise your hands in worship, and get on your knees to pray. You don’t have to shield your Bible when you open it because you have written personal notes all through it. But when you do all those things so that people will see you–that’s the problem. Doing spiritual things so other people notice goes right to motive. If you’re acting godly with the desire to get attention, affirmation, or strokes from folks–you just got all the reward you deserve and lost God’s approval in the process. When you get that pat on the back from your neighbor, then God is like, If that’s what you were going for, man, you got it! There’s your reward, buddy.

We are called to be living for a higher reward–a reward from the Lord Himself. – James MacDonald

Death Brings Life

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” NIV John 12:24

What a vivid picture that is. Do you see it? You are holding the grain of wheat there in your hand. It’s got a hard little shell around it, it’s all by itself, it’s right there in your hand. It’s yours, it’s your life, you control it, you make the decisions. You can decide what you want to do to it. You can hold onto it and keep it. But if you keep it, Jesus says, it will remain alone. Nothing more will ever come out of it.

How many lonely people there are all around us in the world today? They are lonely just for that very reason. They are holding onto that little grain. They are not willing to let it go. And so they have it. It’s all theirs but it’s, oh, so lonely. What’s the alternative? Let it go, drop it. Hand it over to God. Let God take control of it. Be willing to drop into the ground, lose sight of it, and be buried even there in the dark. Maybe people will walk over it, but God’s promise is that a new life will come out of it: a life that’s worth living, a life that’s not just for time, but for eternity. – Derek Prince

TheCall California

 

TheCall California on November 1, 2008 invites Christians from all over the West Coast to come together at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego to pray for revival in California.

 

The Stranger, Must Read

This is very interesting and not the ending I had expected!!!!

A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our

small Texas town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this

enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The

stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on.

As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young

mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary instructors:

Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me to obey. But the

stranger…he was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for

hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies.

If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he

always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed

able to predict the future! He took my family to the first major league

ball game. He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never

stopped talking, but Dad didn’t seem to mind.

Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing

each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the

kitchen for peace and quiet. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the

stranger to leave.)

Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the

stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not

allowed in our home… Not from us, our friends or any visitors. Our

longtime visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that burned

my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush. My Dad didn’t permit

the liberal use of alcohol. But the stranger encouraged us to try it on a

regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly and pipes

distinguished. He talked freely (much too freely!) about sex. His

comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally

embarrassing.

I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced

strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of

my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked… And NEVER asked to leave.

More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our

family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as

he was at first. Still, if you could walk into my parents’ den today,

you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone

to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.

His name?…. . . .

We just call him ‘TV.’

(Note: This should be required reading for every household in

America!)

He has a wife now….We call her ‘Computer.’  

Intercession, Worship and the Prophetic

 

Men and women of God are longing for a new expression of Christianity—one that can only be found amidst night and day worship and prayer. The disciples were in prayer and in one accord when the Holy Spirit sent the first great revival to the Christian church. In the same way, the Lord is raising up those who will cry out for the release of His Holy Spirit on all flesh in this generation.

The Lord is calling forth singers, musicians, worship leaders and intercessors to stand on the front line as forerunners, blazing a trail for the next great revival in our nation and in the nations of the earth. At this conference you will receive practical training and impartation for your personal prayer life. You will discover how to pray effectively and with great joy. Pastors and leaders will learn how to build their church’s prayer and worship ministry and how to strengthen their local house of prayer. Worship leaders will be equipped to build a team of excellent singers and musicians who flow in the prophetic Spirit.

In this hour of history, it is our glorious invitation from God to be people of worship and prayer who function with a prophetic anointing.

BREAKOUT TRACKS INCLUDE

• Prophetic intercession
• Pursuing revival and justice
• Harp and Bowl intercessory worship

About Covenant Eyes

 

Covenant Eyes is a small company nestled in the flat plains of central Michigan. It’s offices are located in the City of Owosso. It was founded in March of 2000.

Covenant Eyes Accountability Software is a unique tool for Internet users who want to be accountable to others for where they go online. The concept is simple. Download the software to your personal computer. This software will monitor everywhere you go online. It won’t block anything: you can go where you choose to go. The program then assigns a numerical score to every part of every Web site based on objectionable material. This information is then compiled into easy-to-read reports that are emailed to other people of the user’s choosing. These people can then become effective accountability partners. This software is used today by tens of thousands of people from Chicago to Shanghai.

Why “accountability” software? How does this help people?

First, accountability takes away the anonymity of Internet use. For many the lure of pornography and cyber-sex is its secrecy. When you choose to give an account of where you go online—to a trusted friend, counselor, pastor, or spouse—you remove the secrecy, thus, you remove much of the temptation.

Secondly, because the software only monitors without blocking, it preserves your freedom to surf the Web, which helps you build self-control and integrity in how you use the Internet.

Thirdly, for many who are addicted to pornography, this software has been a great first step in bringing them into healthy relationships with others that can help them get to the root of their addiction. Covenant Eyes is a tool used by many pastors and counselors in helping people find freedom from their habitual and compulsive pornography use.