Impact Harvest Church Drum Off

John, Johnny, J, and I having a drum off at the 4th year anniversary of Impact Harvest Church. Enjoy!

Love Never Fails

Originally posted on 11/1/07

The tide is changing at UC Berkeley. There is a Jesus movement arising...

The recent article below comes from the official student newspaper at the UC Berkeley campus, the Daily Californian. The article is about a week of debates between all the different groups on campus: muslims, socialists, jews, communists, christians, etc. The article that circulates throughout the entire student population says that the best speech on Sproul Plaza that week was by a Christian who simply shared her faith. She ended by asking all those who don't believe in Jesus to please raise their hands. Most of the plaza rose their hands including the writer. She looked into their eyes and with all sincerity said, "I LOVE YOU."



The writer ends the article by saying:
I’ve been on the receiving end of a few punches in my life, but nothing ever hit me that hard. I don’t know exactly what kind of politics or religion or philosophy that is—but whatever it is, where can I sign up?

People are hungry for the love of Jesus on our campuses. Wanna help them sign up?


(For full article, click here)
SCOTT LUCAS

Come Together Right Now

Monday, October, 29th, 2007

Thursday evening: Sometime around the fourth or fifth speech a thought occurred to me. I was watching hard-line socialists and moderate democrats, observant Muslims and fundamentalist atheists, Christians and Jews, top campus officials and little freshmen all move a little bit closer to each other. Last week I wrote that we like to keep ourselves in comfortable boxes instead of engaging each other across our differences. Well, over the course of the past week, we began work on that engagement. It’s what politics is at it’s finest. Weeks like this give me hope for the rest of the year.

A common refrain this week was that the right-wingers were motivated by hatred. I think that’s not quite it. More than anything, I felt fear emanating from their ranks. I don’t fault them for feeling it; I fault them for letting it rule them.

I can conclude only by ceding the floor to my friend Tinley Ireland, who gave, for my money at least, the best speech of the evening. Just as the sun set, shining right into her face, she stood up on the steps of Sproul Hall on that same consecrated spot where earlier in the day the fear-based community had shouted itself hoarse about the people “over there” who are just waiting, waiting to get us. She stood there and told us about her faith. She talked about how the hardest part of following Christ was to love­ not just her friends, but her enemies too. To stop having enemies at all, to feel that universal pulse of humanity, that spark of the divine that flows through all of our veins.

At the end she asked who in the crowd didn’t believe that Jesus was the son of God. Most hands went up. Mine did. She smiled, and as the light faded she simply and truly said, “I love you.” I’ve been on the receiving end of a few punches in my life, but nothing ever hit me that hard. I don’t know exactly what kind of politics or religion or philosophy that is—but whatever it is, where can I sign up?

A Tribute to Jill Austin

Jill Austin went to be with her Beloved Jesus in heaven at 7:48pm Pacific Time today, 1/9/09.

A Seed Falling To The Ground...

I had the privilege of spending the final week of Jill's life on earth with her. I am so grateful that God divinely orchestrated such precious time with my spiritual mama though we both didn't know it at the time.

We had many meals together, shared lots of smiles and stories, but more importantly shared with such vibrancy our hopes and dreams for seeing the arts and creativity once again restored to our Beloved Creator.

I shared with her a dream I had a couple months ago that got her excited about doing dramas again. In the dream, Jill was just getting off a plane in California from Kansas City. As she arrived, she handed me a flyer with characters such as Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty all over it. She wanted to put on a conference where each of these stories would be told prophetically to the church through drama, film, music, and the arts. It was to call the Bride of Christ to come out of bondage into our rightful place as His royal sons and daughters through creativity.

I think that is why it's been so difficult to let her go. I've had to wrestle with the thought that her destiny was somehow aborted. But I was reminded of the Scripture:

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. (John 12:24)

As she poured out her heart and vision for the arts to be restored this final week, she was surrounded by young people. She would share stories of her "Empty Cradle" drama about abortion that used to be seen by 8000 people in one weekend during the 70's and 80's. Jill would tell us that people would flood and weep in the altars during her performances because the heart of God was so vividly displayed.

We couldn't keep our mouths shut as she spoke as we were filled with excitement, screaming, "YES, THIS IS WHAT WE BURN FOR. THIS IS WHAT WE WANT TO DO. YOU'RE PUTTING LANGUAGE TO OUR DREAMS!!!! DRAMA, ART, MUSICALS, FILMS, TV, DANCES, SONGS THAT DISPLAY GOD'S HEART." Her dreams came alive within us as she spoke and we left every meal with a passionate resolve in our hearts that said, "Let's do this!"

I believe that her destiny is far from being aborted but is now being handed over to a generation to be multiplied as we honor this steadfast forerunner.

A Prophet of the People

Another moment that lives on in my memories of Jill happened just a few days ago on January 2nd, 2009. Jill and I were having dinner at Higher Grounds Cafe when a young man out of nowhere bowed down to introduce himself to Jill. He raved at how much she has blessed him and his friend through her ministry.

Jill was clearly embarrassed by his gushing remarks but she continued to ask his name, where he's from, and genuinely took interest in getting to know him and his friend. We even rode over to the Luke 18 Conference with them.

When I asked her about that whole experience and if it's hard to stay humble, she said, "Going through everyday life keeps you humble." She later whispered in my ear during worship, "You know how Princess Diana was known as the people's princess, I want to be known as a prophet of the people. I want to be with the people."

I believe that desire came to pass in such an unexpected way just a few days later. As she fought for her life, literally thousands in the body of Christ throughout the world stopped what they were doing to intercede and cry out on her behalf. People were glued to their iPhones and laptops, awaiting news of their beloved Jill. Day and night, their hearts went out to her, full of love towards a woman who they encountered once in their lives but it changed them forever.

Although the loss of Jill is sudden and tragic, I believe it happened the way she would've wanted it to be... dramatic. In her finale, she once again gripped the hearts of the people, made us weep, and ultimately led us to gaze upon the one that she loves, Jesus Christ, who's arms she rests in both now and forevermore.

Take a bow, Jill, from the balcony of heaven, and know you've moved us once again with a story about you and your beloved Master Potter.