June 12, 10:00 a.m. Bethel Christian Fellowship, Rochester, NY
Saturday: Today I’m relaxing in my room, preparing for tomorrow. I minister tomorrow at the 10:00 a.m. service at Bethel Christian Fellowship in downtown Rochester. Ron Domina has pastored this work for many years, and now two of his sons are directly leading the operations and ministry of the church, and Ron has taken a step back from that, even though he is still on the leadership team. This will be my first time to minister at Bethel, I’m looking forward to it.
Sunday afternoon: Excellent morning at Bethel. It was my first time in their new sanctuary, just fantastic. Both beautiful and functional. The Lord graced me to speak on “the power of perspective,” and the congregation responded with eager hearts for the Lord. It was great to greet some long-time friends such as Don Perkins, Dan & Ruth Jacobs, and Sue Mast and her husband (sorry I can’t place her married name). I was also surprised out of my skin to be greeted by Dan Nichols, who lives in FL but just happened to be in the area on vacation.
Now that I’ve returned to my hotel room this afternoon, I’m stunned by what is on TV: the mass shooting in Orlando. Lord Jesus, You’re our Redeemer, may You redeem eternal treasure out of this horrible tragedy.
June 10, The Tabernacle, Orchard Park, NY
The Tabernacle has been a leading ministry of Buffalo for decades under the direction of Tommy Reid. Now it is led by Bishop Robert Stearns and Jim Ruddy. The Reid’s daughter, Aimee, continues to serve on staff. All these folks are dear friends to me. Once a month The Tab hosts a gathering called “Keepers of the Flame” regional worship and prayer gathering. Rob Stearns will lead worship tonight, then I’ll speak. I’m planning on speaking on “Illegal Prayers.”
Saturday 12:30 p.m.: Greetings from the downtown Holiday Inn in Rochester. It’s a lovely day here, and I have nice places around here to walk. Last night’s service at The Tab in Orchard Park went well, the Lord really helped me. The group was very ready to receive the word, they were easy to minister to. And very responsive. I had the joy of connecting with several friends, including Tommy & Wanda Reid, Jay and Aimee Sych, and Robert Stearns.
June 9, City Church, Batavia, NY
Thursday: I left the house very early this morning, to make a 6:15 a.m. departure for Buffalo. I’ll be taken today to Batavia, where I will be ministering this evening at City Church. They have a regular Thursday midweek service at which I’ll be ministering. It will be my first time to this church. The connection was made for me by another pastor, Lou Perez, so I’m looking forward to being with Lou’s friends in Batavia tonight.
Friday morning: I had a fantastic night in Batavia, NY. City Church was launched right around the time we moved from NY to Kansas City, so I had not met the pastor previously. What a great work they’re doing here in Batavia, really outstanding. They have restored an old theater that is on Main Street, it’s a tremendous facility at an ideal location. The Lord graced the message last night, and many expressed strong appreciation.
I will be collected at 2:00 pm today by pastor Ron Domina of Rochester. First we will be taken on a tour of some facilities that this ministry in Batavia has recently purchased. Then after lunch we will make the near-hour drive to The Tab in Orchard Park.
June 7, Korean Intensive at IHOP-KC
Tuesday: This evening at 7:00 p.m. I’m speaking at a workshop for a Korean event at IHOP. I think the group from Japan may still be at this event. I have been asked to speak on “a friend of the bridegroom” (Jn 3:29).
Tuesday night: Tonight’s session at the Korean Intensive at IHOP seemed to go well. I was a bit distracted with my own conversation with the Lord during the message, and so am not sure how it came over, but it was meaningful personally to revisit the subject of “the friend of the bridegroom,” a message that can’t be revisited too much in my opinion.
June 3-5, Ekklesia New York, Astoria, NY; ekklesianewyork.com
Friday: Today I’m flying to NYC to have a weekend with a small Spanish-speaking congregation in Queens, called Ekklesia New York. This church is connected to a church in Miami called Ekklesia where I have ministered 3-4 times in past years. This will be my first time to be with this new congregation in NYC. I will work with an interpreter. Sessions are Friday night, Saturday morning, and Sunday morning. The theme is on worship.
Friday 11:00 pm: We had difficulty during the sound check, and I was prepared for a tough night. But when I got up to speak, for some reason they had found a better setting for me, and the sound system worked good for me. So I was able to relax. I was leaning hard on the Lord Jesus during tonight’s message, and He helped us. I believe the message was edifying for those who gathered.
Saturday evening: This morning’s meeting went very well. The Lord helped me, and the church was edified. Afterwards, they took me to an Argentine restaurant, and none of us could handle the whole side of beef they served on our plates, ha. A fun meal. When you think NYC you think LARGE. But NYC has an amazing small town feel to it. Every neighborhood is chock full of little neighborhood shops that serve a niche of the neighborhood’s needs. You don’t see large stores like Walmart around, you see scores of tiny shops that line the streets. Many people don’t have a car, so NY has a way of providing what you need within walking distance. An amazing city!
Sunday 3:00 pm: Greetings from LaGuardia airport, which happens to be just 10 minutes from my host church. The service this morning was awesome, the Lord’s presence was strong, and the saints eagerly entered into what the Lord was doing. A great time! I am coming home with an overflowing heart of thanksgiving.
Up next: I have another session on Tuesday with the Koreans who have gathered at IHOP for a couple weeks of encounter with the Lord. I’ve been asked to speak on the message of the book, IT’S NOT BUSINESS IT’S PERSONAL.
June 2, Korean Passion For Jesus conference at IHOP-KC
Thursday: This evening I am speaking at an IHOP event called Korean Passion For Jesus. So I’ll be working with an interpreter. I plan to speak on “God’s perspective on our circumstances.”
Thursday night: Tonight’s session at the Korean conference was graced of the Lord. There are 22 folks here from Japan who are visiting IHOP, most for the first time, and they are participating in this conference. They were recruited for this trip by a Korean pastor. So my Korean translator followed after each English sentence. At the same time, a Japanese translator spoke into a microphone that fed an in-ear system to the Japanese folks who listened on headsets. So two languages were being interpreted simultaneously after each English sentence. Interesting! There was a good spirit in the group, the Lord helped us. It’s so good to see Japanese and Koreans worshiping together, considering the unfortunate history between the two nations. You can see a 30-second clip of the worship service on my public profile FB page.
May 27, 29, Int’l House Of Prayer Eastern Gate, Cranford NJ
Friday: This morning I’m heading for Cranford, NJ, to the IHOP Eastern Gate. This house of prayer launched in 2010, and this will be my fourth visit with them. The leaders are valuable and special friends to me. Services are scheduled for tonight and Sunday morning.
Sunday afternoon: Friday evening I spoke on the vision of Zech. 4. One reason that teaching gets a lot of buzz afterwards is because of the drawing of the vision. When you see something, it strengthens retention. That visual helps people absorb the message of the chapter. By the way, I hope to write about that one day, I’d appreciate your prayers over that idea.
This morning’s service was fantastic. Awesome spirit in the house. The Lord graced me to speak, and the saints received with eagerness. Marvelous time.