February Love Month.

 

We are having some fun at the Upper Room Worship Center! I love being with this crew they are creative, encouraging, outofthebox thinkers and love people. It's been fun resting and learning as we are launching into our new adventure.

This month is Love month we are encouraging people to use one of the calendars below to practice kindness. Actually that's the only way people see and experience kindness. Action. Doing. Stepping out. Loving people. Being kind.

Why not join us, practice for a month and see what happens to the world around you. Use the Calendar or be creative and develop or practice your own thoughts. 

We also have  serve and love boards in the foyer of the church. People can pick up a card to serve or go to the kindness board where people can pick up a heart and love someone in the community. 

It's all fun and very missional.

 Here is brief Update also some thoughts on purpose.

Hearing the Voice of the Lord...

I had a great time in Virginia with Stephen Bell from Riversong Church in Springfield. We taught in a YWAM School and in a Korean Discipleship School. Our topic How to hear the voice of the Lord. A great topic. One thing is certain, we are uniquely wired as individuals and we all hear differently. Frustration usually occurs when we compare ourselves with others. We need to learn how we are wired and how the Holy Spirit speaks to us.

 A few months ago I met a man who was frustrated. He wasn’t hearing the voice of the Lord clearly. I asked, “Where do you go or what do you do when you feel closest to Jesus.” He replied, “When I’m out taking a walk. I love nature.” I replied, “Go there. Become aware of what you are seeing, what you are feeling. Open your heart and listen. Most likely it’s there you will begin to hear His voice.”

John Wesley’s mom would go to her place when she felt overwhelmed. She would sit in her rocking chair, flip her apron over her head to meet with Jesus. Remember? She had many children running around needing to be cared for. She found her place of connection in the midst of chaos, sitting in her rocker with her apron over her head. Where is your place?Dew upon the ground. One lady was standing away from the group watching what was happening. (An amazing outflow of the Holy Spirit touched the group. A lady in a wheelchair was receiving a huge measure of healing; others were receiving emotional breakthrough, One lady had experienced depression for 10 years and was being set free.)

We prayed for the lady viewing the action. We told her every person receives and responds differently. Some laugh, some praise, some clap, some are silent, some cry etc. As we were talking with her we noticed the Holy Spirit was indeed upon her, yet she was not aware. He was landing upon her gently, like a fresh dew landing upon the grass. He knew her emotional need. She needed a gentle touch. When we explained what we saw she relaxed, and she received. Later during the testimony time she began to weep as she shared how much her encounter with the Holy Spirit encouraged her. He knew her. He knew how she was wired and He knew what she needed in that moment.
 
The whole purpose of hearing the voice of the Lord is to know Him better. When we hear Him, we can have a relationship with Him. Having a relationship with Him, we can then make Him know to others. Freely we receive. We can then freely give.
 
I keep asking that the God of our  Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know Him better Ehp1:17-19
 
Youth. 
Stephen spoke at a youth event.  Sharon, the leader, has been gathering young Korean teens together for many years. The fifty teens come from many different area churches. They are trained, encouraged and sent back to their local church. One of the leaders has trained many guitarist and worship leaders. It was an amazing meeting!


Korean People.  
Teaching in the Korean school was really fun. Most of the students being trained were over sixty. There was a lot of hunger and humility in the group. The last night was powerful. Korean men usually do not show emotion and are rather reserved. We received several accurate words of encouragement for the men. They were very encouraged and had tears running down their faces. The Korean people are a wonderful people.
Not many people know I had trained many Korean pastors and leaders while working at Cincy Vineyard. I started a weekend intensive. They would come for three days, be trained and head back to their area. They would always bring gifts for Pattie.


Phillips Temple. I’ll be starting to train the leaders at PhillipsTemple in Trotwood in November. The leaders have a great foundation of prayer and the Word. Pattie and I have popped up to worship with them a few times. We always come away encouraged. I believe they are shifting the atmosphere in Trotwood. They have a desire to reach out to their community. This should be an exciting season for me and for the church.


If your group would like to have a session learning about hearing the voice of the Lord. Let me know on the connection section.

Pattie and I are seeking to become missionaries again, hopefully by May. We don’t know what it looks like or how we will raise monthly support. We value your partnership and care for us.

Traction...

 
 

I had a great talk with Bruce Terry pastor of Liberty Church in Birmingham. He is one of the most encouraging men I know. He is also very smart and transparent. He talked about the book Traction... and the EOS system. It was an interesting talk. We talked about leaders and how the church is shifting to release talented people into the marketplace. Wise leaders understand they have the opportunity to train, value, honor, encourage, release and celebrate people into who God called them to be.

We talked about team. How visionary leaders need people to facilitate /  implement the vision. (EOS an implementer)

He mentioned that the person / persons who lead to implement the vision, are just as needed, just as important and just as valuable as the leader. When there is no one who can practically and creatively implement the vision, the idea, is powerless it remains merely a concept.

Beginning with the end in mind, the implementer develops a plan by zooming out to see the big picture, then zooming in to see the action steps needed for the big picture to become a reality. The action steps are then developed and given to creative people who understand process, who love to solve problems, and who will enlist people to fill major roles. The challenge for visionary leaders is to value, honor, encourage and celebrate the people within the implementer leader role.

During our talk Bruce mentioned he realized the importance of The Parable Of The Talents in the context of recognizing and releasing talented people. Bruce translated the parable into the church situation. Jesus was talking about people within the local church with gifts and talents. The burying of the talents happens when leaders don't recognize nor release people into the role they were gifted and called to fulfill.

Understand Jesus had clear vision. He gave instruction, and He had implementers, the disciples.

When you go into the city you will find a man carrying a pot. He will show you an upper room, prepare there. Have the people sit in groups of fifty. You will see a colt...
Can you imagine what these events would look like if the disciples didn't prepare /  implement what Jesus instructed them to do? No last supper. No triumphal entry. Chaos at an outreach.

When people, as gifts, are unwrapped, taken out of the box and are valued, honored and celebrated, they tend to grow and enhance an organization.

Summing it up.                                                                                                                  
In order for a vision to become a glorious uplifting reality, implementers (people who volunteer, or who are hired) should be valued as gifts to the leader and the organization. When the leader recognizes the gift, they then have the opportunity to release the person to be all they were created to be... the vision unfolds, everyone wins, and growth occurs.

Tip: Don't keep people in a box. Unwrap the gift.

Upward, Outward: Missional Community.

---

³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew22:36-40NIV

Epidemic...
A friend of mine has traveled extensively and spoken to numerous pastors and church leaders. As a result, he's discovered there is an epidemic. It seems there is a vacuum in many hearts; the vacuum is often discovered when believer's feel / sense there must be more to life than what they are living. They may be encouraged to pray, worship, journal, read books, attend conferences, attend church or meditate upon scripture to fill their void. In reality, the vacuum they are sensing may be a purpose deficit.

All inflow, with no outflow, creates a sick heart. You and I were created to flow outward, to do good works.

Eph 2: 8-10NIV
  ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. 

We are saved by grace through faith not by works. However, we are His handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.

Good works don't save us, good works reveal us. 

If you and I are not giving our lives away by serving others... somewhere... we, at our core, are purpose impaired.

The below diagram illustrates:

                                                                                                                                                            

Upward:Give. Upward:Receive. 
Everything in life flows from our connective relationship to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Everything. He is the source of our identity. Knowing Whose we are enables us to draw near with confidence.

In Him, we live and move and have our being. Our heart connection is so important. We draw near, and He draws near to us. His promise is true. 

All life flows from our relationship with Him. We draw near to give: to give our hearts, to give our lives, to give our worship. 

I give my worship because He is so worthy, so gracious, so loving, so forgiving. 

It's amazing... as we give, we often receive. (I personally believe we receive more than we are aware when we spend time in His  presence.) 

What we receive is a by-product of our worshipful giving. I give my time, I give my life as worship. He, in turn, pours His love and grace into my heart. When we receive, we then have something to give. Knowing Him, I can then make Him known. (I John 1:1-9)
                                                                                                                                                                 
Outward:Give. Outward:Receive. 
The great Investor invests into our lives so that we are built up, and have something to give away to others. 

He gives us love, joy, hope, faith, grace, power, talents, giftings, gifts, and passions for others. 

As I make Him known, through active love and service, He in turn, gives something back... a sense of destiny, a sense of purpose, a sense of fulfillment.

It's in the very act of giving, laying our lives down for others we receive. We receive encouragement when someone is genuinely encouraged and cared for through our service. We also can sense God's favor as we give away what we have received. When we bless others, we are blessed.

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."

My friend Shana has a new photography business. She decided to dedicate 10% of what she earns to help people in need. Yesterday, she went shopping for groceries and toiletries. She then headed up to Trotwood to deliver the groceries and supplies to women in crisis. She stayed awhile encouraging the women and children. 

                                                                                                                                                                       
Here is a snippet of her story.
 "There are days when my envy for what others have makes it hard to breathe and others when my heart aches for what others do not. Every day I work hard to be a humble servant, putting others ahead of myself in my relationships and in my business. All the money in the world would mean nothing to me if I couldn't help others.
Today was hard and beautiful all in the same, I was able to gift a car full of groceries to the Mustard Seed Foundation in Trotwood, a home for teenage mothers. These girls are facing challenges on so many levels and I am so thankful this home exists. I was greeted with warm smiles and big hearts and I left behind a little goodness and grace." 

Her passion intersects with God's purpose.  

Her passion:To care for people. Her purpose:Release her creative gifting to care for others, both in her chosen profession as a photographer and giving to people in need.

Guess where her tank is filled? Shana's life passion is connected to her life purpose. She genuinely cares for her clients and for the people in need in her community.

My wife teaches literacy enrichment.  
Her passion:Child development. Her purpose:Teaching literacy. 
She wants to love the kids as Jesus loves. She has done this well. She is loving, creative, joyful, kind and open hearted. Guess what? Kids love being with her. Her love for Jesus overflows in creative teaching.

  Note: Both are not "full time" church workers. They are full-time Jesus followers.


Where does your passion intersect with God's purpose?

                                                                                                                                                               
Together:A Missional Community.

When we, together, worship, love, serve and care for others we become a missional community; a community on mission. 

I've heard it stated, "If you pursue community you may develop community, but you may not be on mission. However, if you(all ya all), as a group of people, pursue mission you will form a community."

Upward:Give. Upward:Receive.

Outward:Give. Outward:Receive. 

Upward:Give. Give thanks and praise for what He did in you and through you and through... all ya all. Community on Mission=Missional Community.

Bowen News

Bowen News

We are excited about some happenings.

Wednesday I had the opportunity to encourage a young lady at Frisch's Restaurant. I noticed her when we were paying the bill. I knew she was a person of mega influence. 

How did I know? I had an inner impression that I've come to know through practice, as a Holy Spirit prompt. She reminded me of another person I recently noticed as an Influencer. 

I pulled my car around. I pulled up to the window and asked, "I sometimes receive encouraging words for people... Would you like an encouraging word?" 

She was so open. I shared what I felt she needed to hear about being an influencer etc. I mentioned, "I'm a follower of Jesus  and He wanted to encourage you today."
She had a huge smile and I could tell what I said resonated within her. She asked my name and thanked me. She then turned around and began telling the other team members what had just happened. 

I've discovered people are very open and in need of encouragement. The Holy Spirit loves to drop thoughts of encouragement into our hearts. We just need to be open to hear His nudges and respond.

Vaughn Family
Adam Vaughn and family were given three promo videos that E.J. Wiltemire put together. The videos have helped The Backwards Missionaries raise their profile and allow people to view their ministry connection in Costa Rica. I'm extremely grateful for the people who gave to us to pull off this idea. Jesus is so much smarter than I am. He has great ideas. 

See video here https://youtu.be/HJInTmUCEGo


Overtoun House Fun Stories.
Bob and Melissa have received the 3D rendering of their Castle / Home. It's been fun to see Bob send the rendering to the teams who have worked over fifteen years to bring the home to completion.

You can view Joel Menken's, of Imagine Video, 3D rendering by following this link. https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=LKm2aTYeep3https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=LKm2aTYeep3

When the home was being constructed in the 1800's, over one thousand workers camped out on the grounds. They used the ash from their fires to insulate the floor spaces. When the teams renovated the floors the dust went everywhere.

To top it all off, when the workers made the plaster they mixed horse hair as the binder. When the teams removed the plaster the hair went everywhere. Unknown to Bob and the team, fleas lived in the horse hair. Guess how they found out? You guessed it, a summer Flea invasion!

Bob told me that the largest team was ninety nine people. Can you imagine having all those people in your home? Melissa is a hero.

They have received their multi occupancy permit and are now in the process of creating and implementing care procedures for women at risk. Their goal is to create an environment of love and acceptance to help the women heal, develop job skills and re-enter into the community successfully. If you are a professional counselor and would like to live in a castle contact Overtoun House.

Bowen's
Pattie and I are grateful that my sister who lives with us will be moving into an apartment of her own. I know she is excited. She will be receiving the care she needs and will be taken care of.

We are launching our new web site soon. We continue to press into the vision of encouraging leaders, missionaries and churches. Pattie is working as a literacy teacher in a kindergarten in the Kettering schools system. She will travel with me when she can.

I'll be sending the link to the new web site soon.

Thanks again for partnering with us in our adventure.

I'll be heading to Virginia at the end of the month.

I'm also helping a few churches in the Dayton area. Encouraging, and advising concerning outward-focused missionalness. This has been fun and refreshing for me.

Steve

If you'd like to partner with us please use Donor Box.
 

UK Trip Prophetic... fun.

While in England preparing before a meeting I wrote, page, writer, stuck. 

In the meeting I asked if anyone was in the room named Paige, not a common English name. The Paige person didn’t show a hand. I told everyone that I was practicing and sometimes I get things mixed up, or I am just wrong.

Noticing is important.

I had a word for a girl and I asked her to stand. The word was about dreaming a new dream and she was in process of moving into the dream. I later found out she was moving into developing some strategy for their group. I received the word for her because I saw a girl that day who looked like her and had "dare to dream" tattooed on her neck. 

I then moved on to find the writer who was stuck. The stuck writer was the girl sitting next to the girl I had just had the word for dreams. I thought that was interesting.

When she stood, there was suddenly an amazing flow of Jesus love for her. Seems she uses Mac to write her poetry, songs, on... pages. She felt stuck. Some who knew her were laughing and crying as I spoke over her. She was crying and laughing. it turned into an impartation and a very encouraging word to her for what was ahead. 

There was a sudden shift in the atmosphere and I knew I had tapped into Jesus’s heart for the people in the meeting. A few other encouraging words flowed.

Later, the dream girl came up to me and told me her middle name was Paige. So, Paige, dream girl, was sitting next to the writer who was stuck. How good is that? Bye the way, they had traveled the longest to get to the meeting.

I also, found out the writer had written and presented some pretty amazing poetry in the church. Which, when presented was powerful, not just in the writing, but how she presented her poetry.

Scotland, prophetic was also flowing again. 
I found myself moving down a intuitive prophetic path as I was speaking and suddenly knew, "Oh know( it was an... oh know) I knew spoke too fast and too far." If you've been doing this for awhile you will know that feeling of how do I correct myself in this situation. I had to back up, apologize and reminded the person of the first part which was the main Father's love connection. 

Yesterday, I emailed the person and asked for forgiveness.

Shawn Boltz book Translating God is so helpful. I've read it twice so far. 

The book has a section about being accountable for our words, attitudes, actions. He encourages the reader, when we give direction, times, or dates to track what we have said and see if what we have said comes into being. If not, then we may have some cleaning up to do. He encourages people to have self-awarness, to be emotionally intelligent and to ask for honest feedback. John Paul Jackson was the forerunner of this concept and made moves to establish this in the prophetic movement. 

So glad I asked the leaders for feedback. I knew in my knower I was heading in the wrong direction. Self correction, is so important.

3D Rendering
Joel Menken Imagine Media Facebook did an amazing job videoing and 3D photo of Overtounhouse.com.

Use Crome and this link https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=LKm2aTYeep3 
a 3D rendering of a castle we shot. 

I think churches will begin to use this as a virtual window for websites. Cutting edge technology. If you are in the Dayton Area grab Joel. He'd be glad to give you a price for your business, church etc.

Here is a short video of my time in the UK. 

All in all it was a great trip. Thanks to all who support us.

If it doesn't work ... It's probably American.

 
It's been a good two weeks. I'm in Warrington, England with my friends Mike and Jane. They were pastors of a church I helped plant in Scotland. They sold everything and moved to Warrington a few years ago to plant a new generation church called Oasis. 

Oasis is amazing. I love the energy, the way people are encouraged, and how they reach out to the community. Many of the people who now attend were reached, met Jesus, were then baptized, now are disciples and function as band members, creative arts people, outreach participants or serve in other ways.

One of my Bible college professors stated, "If a principal works in any culture it's God. If the principle doesn't work in any culture, it's probably American."

Serving their city works.
Oasis serves the community mainly through acts of kindness. They have served the people of the city from day one. In this culture nothing is free, and there is always a catch. When people receive a small gift, a coke on a hot day, a small bag of treats, or chocolate to celebrate Warrington people are impacted. The simple acts of kindness reaches the heart. They ask questions. Many receive prayer. Some meet Jesus then begin to attend Oasis.

We've gone out to the main shopping area in the town center. As we've served more than one person asked, "What's the catch?" We were able to share why, have great conversations, and pray with people. 

One day the police came down after seeing us serving on CV monitors. Their response, "Oh, it just Oasis." 

I prayed for a police woman. I simply stated, "I'd like to pray for your protection. Would that be ok?" She replied, "Thanks that would be nice." We prayed for her. Invited angels to be with her. Declared protection over her. We declared she'd have eyes to see and ears to hear and God's presence would be near her.  We noticed her smile, gratitude and genuine up beat response. "I'm protected now. Thank you."

One lady who had pain in her back was shocked when her pain level moved from an eight down to a two. Most people we prayed for encountered the love of Jesus through the  presence of the Holy Spirit.

Several people mentioned they would like to pop in and check Oasis out. 

They have a family service at 11am. At 6 pm a new generation service starts. This service is mainly made up of 20's and 30's. The style is fun, upbeat and has an amazing house band who lead worship. Last week there was a tangible sense of God's presence as we worshiped.

Since I've been here there has been a shift into prophetic encouragement and prayer. People are now stepping into the next phase of outreach. As they pray for people they are receiving insight, knowledge and encouragement for the people they serve. This connection to the Holy Spirit is wonderful to see and experience. 

Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson wrote a best selling book The Externally Focused Church. My favorite line from the book. "Good deeds, creates good will, which opens hearts to the good news." 

Oasis ... They are serving their way into the hearts of people... Tiz working in Warrington, England.

This is what Pattie and I do. We encourage, and in return we are encouraged. If you'd like us to come to your church or support us in prayer of giving. Simply click Invite Steve or Donor Box link.

Is He more than enough? Bowen update.

Hey just wanted to write a brief update…

It’s rewarding to see the potential for missionaries using the film we gift to highlight who they are and what they do. Two short video's have been completed. We are waiting on completed edit. While in Costa Rica we filmed Thebackwardsmissionaries.com

Our heart is to equip, train and encourage wherever we are located and go. We are practitioners not just theorist. I do more than travel to encourage missionaries; this is just a part of what we are doing. We are learning and growing even at our age.

Worship a key that unlocks our hearts...
I was worshiping and felt so small, so young, I asked Jesus, "Why?" Reply, "Because you are eternal." Yep, much pondering on this statement happened.

Stunned...
I was worshiping a while ago, and I felt a nudge, a whisper… “Steve, if this was the only thing you did …. would it be enough?" 

I sat in silence for some time then replied, “I want you to be enough. I’m so driven. I don’t know. Help me to allow you to be enough.” 

I walked away from that moment forever changed. 

Worship is our number one way of expressing our heart to Jesus. As we worship He appears. Sue Ranaldi, a worship leader in the UK once said, "Worship is the scene of His appearing." 

Those who worship, touch the Father's heart 

as they glorify Jesus. The Holy Sprit loves to glorify the Son.

 As we worship He shows up.

 Number two way, is serving others. Both sacrifices are pleasing to HIm. (Hebrews 13)

We sing … more than enough… but really, is He? When I remember this encounter I cease striving. I pause. I reflect. In eternity He will be more than enough… I’m learning to practice making Him so here.

More to follow.
I head to the UK Monday for 3 weeks, and yes another video guy is going, thanks to the partnership support I’m receiving. His first out of the country mission. Excited for him. 

He will be filming Overtoun House and Bob and Melissa Hill. 

I’ll be in Warrington, England for a couple of weeks with Mike and Jane McMahon training and encouraging before heading north.

Last thought. Times are a changing: partnership and support come from relationships with ones being sent.This includes churches and individuals. We are grateful for those we know, or we have known, who help us do what we do.

We are so grateful,

Steve and Pattie
for more
www.eyesoutward.com  

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