Prophetic Worship & Apostolic Preaching @ UCLA
God is asking us to press in at this hour to prayer war for “heaven on earth” to come to our university campuses. Do not relent, press in, the breakthrough is waiting to break out! This is dependent on the level of our spiritual hunger & violence. The kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force (Matthew 11).
This past Wednesday at UCLA we experienced a taste of heaven on earth, but it came with a cost. We got out onto campus and sensed the Lord was asking us to go into the middle of campus and lead out in prophetic outdoor worship & outdoor proclamation of the Gospel. As we walked up onto campus there were thousands of students walking up and down Bruin Walk. Normally, we would sit at the patch of grass where there were not many onlookers (free speech area), but on Wednesday the main steps at the top of Bruin Walk were open with no student organization tabling~ we took it by faith.
It was only eight of us (Matt, Caleb, Josh, Alyson, Jumpei, Neil, Sam). As we sat on the steps we began to pray. It was difficult to pray, the enemy immediately began to intimidate us with fear, self-consciousness, and I could tell many on our team were distracted. You could sense the spiritual darkness/forces right there in the middle of campus opposing our prayers, as hundreds of students were standing/tabling and hanging out around the Bruin Walk sidewalk. It was almost like we could hear the Devil say, “Come on, what are you going to do? Worship in the middle of campus? With your little guitars and make a fool out of yourself?” Don’t you know I own this campus?” (Greater is He that is in us than He that is in the world 1 John 4)
As we sat there and prayed it became more difficult. Yet, my heart began to break as I saw thousands of students walk pass us with no sense of hope or direction. On the outside these UCLA students all look like they got it together. They go to UCLA, they have the status, the image, the self-confidence, they look cool and they look like they got it together.” Then I hear the spirit of the Lord shout to my spirit, “STOP LOOKING WITH YOUR PHYSICAL EYES, LOOK WITH YOUR SPIRITUAL EYES, THEY ARE ALL LOST, DYING AND HEADED TOWARDS ETERNAL SEPARATION FROM GOD!” I had to remind myself, “The battle is not against flesh and blood the battle is against spiritual powers, principalities and darkness in the air, the God of this age has blinded their eyes so they can not see (Eph 6:10, 2 Corinth 4)!”
In the natural, 7 Asian nobodies with two guitars and a big white guy worshipping at the top of their lungs in the middle of the day in UCLA would seem like the most foolish strategy anyone could devise to advance God’s kingdom on earth. Yet, God chooses to use the foolish things of the earth to confound the wise. We began to worship, not for them, but for Him, with all our hearts. It was extremely difficult. Alyson all of a sudden got sick in the stomach and wanted to throw up. Caleb and Josh both started to feel out of it and were getting negative thoughts. I knew it was the enemies attack, “Guys, focus, pull it together, the enemy wants to make us think this is pointless, we might not look cool singing hallelujah songs, but this isn’t about being relevant or cool, this is a spiritual war, don’t look at the students laughing, don’t look at the physical circumstance, look at God, press in, worship God and He will come! Angels and Demons are here right here, right now, we need to press in and worship till heaven comes down to UCLA!”
Holy Spirit began to help us. We began to sing acappela “I love You Lord and I lift my voice, to worship You, Oh my soul rejoice, take joy my King in what You hear, let it be a sweet, sweet song in Your ear!” Over and over again, we began to not just sing, not just worship, but we began to PROPHETICALLY DECLARE to the spiritual powers and principalities at UCLA~ an authentic and genuine heartfelt cry of love to JESUS! We began to enthrone Jesus over UCLA looking to God, not to man. Onlookers begin to watch, it was like “time stopped” and the presence of God began to descend, it was felt. I knew in my spirit angels had descended, God was with us! We kept shouting it out as hundreds of students walked by and were looking at us with funny looks, some stopping and watching, others turning their heads back. The Holy Spirit, yes, the Holy Spirit comes to convict hearts with righteousness, sin and judgment! (John 16)
Sam from CCM fellowship began to lead us into worship (thank God for Sam if he wasn’t there we wouldn’t have made it) and we worshipped out-loud in the middle of Bruin Walk for 2 hours. We kept pressing in, we were contending for heaven on earth, we were contending for the power of God to be released, if His presence would not go before us, we had no hope. After 2 hours of worship warfare, we began to sense it was time to preach. The spiritual air had been cleared, the heavens were open, blinders were removed and the Bruin Walk area we stood upon was consecrated holy unto the Lord.
Caleb had to go to class so he got up and began to preach to the students walking by. He could only preach for a few minutes and then he said, “I’m passing the baton who’s taking it up next?”” This was my first time on campus at UCLA during school. I’ll tell you the truth I was intimidated, but I knew Holy Spirit was with us. He was anointing us for the task (to PREACH the Gospel & proclaim Good News Isaiah 61)!
Let me tell you something, “No matter how many times you have preached in public to masses of unbelievers you never get use to it, you never feel confident right away, apostolic preaching is not for the faint hearted, it’s not a Sunday sermon, its for those who dare to completely loose their own reputation and be completely and utterly dependent on God!” I wanted to pee in my pants, I looked at the hundreds of students walking up and down where we worshipping and I wanted to run & hide. But then I closed my eyes, I asked God for grace, again He showed me, “It’s not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit! Don’t look with your physical eyes, there is more with you than there is with them, open Your mouth and I will fill it with My Words to follow!” Without opening my eyes, I jumped into the middle of Bruin Walk and I began to preach at the top of my lungs….
My voice was almost gone, but as I preached you could sense the unction and anointing of the Holy Spirit and His power. Students walking by began to stop dead in their tracks! 5 here, 12 there, two tour groups stopped at the top of the college above us, an entire Asian fraternity sitting on the steps stopped talking and began to listen, an entire group of African Americans who just moments before had their boom boxes blasting stopped and began to listen, those tabling turned around, within moments there was a crowd of students standing, in wonder and looking, gripped by the Spirit all over Bruin Walk were listening to me preach the Gospel of repentance and love towards God! There had to been at least 120-150 students standing still listening for almost a half hour as I shared my testimony and proclaimed the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ! You could ask Josh, Alyson, Matt, the entire Bruin Walk moments before was full of noise, conversations, hustle/bustle but all of sudden the entire Bruin Walk was silent. God supernaturally amplified my broken voice with no microphone! People said they could hear the preaching from the 3rd story of the building above us.
What happened? To tell you the truth I don’t know exactly what happened, but glory be to the name of God! I called them to repentance and to commit in prayer to give their lives to Christ. At least half a dozen hands rose to the air and I asked the crowd to shout out the sinners prayer with me, we could hear students voices all over shouting out the sinners prayer in commitment all over Bruin Walk! It could have only been God!
The presence of God was present, so present that we didn’t even know what to do once done praying the prayer. One student began to question what was preached and started to begin a debate. I could tell it was a distraction of God and God helped us by having a smoking skater sitting on some steps defend me and debate with this Aethiest. Then the Holy Spirit led our team to go 2×2 to begin talking with the students who responded.
One student came from a Hindu background he said, “I’m jealous for what you have!” I want it but I don’t know how to get it!” We began to converse and answer his questions.
Another black student who was extremely angry began to tell us you are “full of sh#$” We listened to him say how Christians could not be trusted, he told us he was a servant of the Devil, Christians had done too much wrong in this world and genocide millions in the name of Christ. My heart began to break as I listened to him, I asked, “Holy Spirit give me wisdom to respond!” I responded to his anger by asking for forgiveness on behalf of myself and all Christians, he responded with, “I have no response for that one” he almost began to cry, his entire countenance changed, we prayed for him and he said I don’t know what it is about you all, but I’m the only one in my family who isn’t a Christian, but if there is one church I’ll go to it’s the one you go to…we gave him the info to Passion Church in Reiber Hall 6th floor. It was the power of Christ forgiveness that He could not resist, we kept talking and he was being transformed right before our eyes.
Next to him was the large Asian fraternity group. They were listening and responding to the preaching the whole time. There was one fraternity brother in particular with a white hat on. I saw him while I was preaching. I knew God’s hand was on him. I walked right up to him and it was like he was waiting for me to speak to him. He shakes my hand and says, “I heard your message, it spoke to me, I almost went to jail too, I’m actually a PK (Pastors Kid) and I’m the president of this fraternity. I feel like God maybe calling me back to serve Him after all these years.” We kept talking, God was moving upon his heart, he wanted to talk more, I asked him if we could get together for coffee and study the Bible, he wanted to eagerly…he is definitely a student of peace.
The stories go on and on. All I can say is to God be the glory! To God be the glory! This is just the beginning friends, soldiers, army of God.We praised God for what He did, we regrouped and ended with a prayer. But, the enemy was not happy. We immediately began to feel uneasiness in our spirits, Alyson got more sick, others were battling negative thoughts, we continued to pray and intercede throughout the rest of the day and night. Some of the giants at UCLA went down that day, but not all. Yes, God established His throne on the Bruin Walk steps on Wednesday, but the battle has just begun. The battle has just begun. We saw only a glimpse of heaven on earth, a glimpse of His light breaking into the darkness, we must press forward saints!
PRAY! DO NOT STOP PRAYING AND FASTING FOR REVIVAL!
Do you understand what we are up against? Do you think this Christian walk is a joke? This is not a religion! This is not a game! This is not a social institution! This is, yes a spiritual family, but also it is a spiritual war! Jesus deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me. Follow Him to what? Follow Him to the Cross of suffering and complete death to SELF.
Philippians 3:10-12
“I want to know (intimately experience) Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
Three things will happen when we pursue God in spiritual violence. When we press in to God and abandon all of self.
1) We will know Him intimately
2) We will operate in the power of His anointing
3) We will inevitably fellowship in His sufferings
Yes, Wednesday at UCLA we encountered the intimate presence of Christ in worship. Yes, we operated and experienced the power of His anointing upon the preached Word resulting in repentance and salvation. Yes, we also experienced the spiritual warfare, demonic attack and the grace to fellowship in the sufferings of Christ Jesus or Lord. Jesus says, “In this world you will have many trials and tribulations, but fear not, I have overcome the world!” Do not relent, we must press in and contend for the perfect will of God to be established upon the earth, upon our campuses, do not relent, do not give up, continue to pray, prophesy, seek His face prophetically worship and apostolically declare to every university campus in this nation REPENT FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD HAS COME!
