Happy Thursday Warriors! Hope all is well!
What a cold and windy weekend it was!
On Friday night, we had a remnant crew at the Bayfront, and despite the chill, we still had a decent crowd to plant seeds into. At least until about 7:30.
On Saturday, 5 of our Jesus crew went to Tampa and met up with a team of evangelists from the east coast. We spent about 4 hours ministering at the Gasparilla Parade, which is one of the biggest parades in America.
We had been there 3 years in a row, and this was definitely the coldest it’s ever been. The wind was fierce too, blowing our sign, table and cross over multiple times. It also started to rain at one point, forcing us to pack up a little early.
Despite these conditions, and the much smaller crowd, God still moved.
Likely thousands of people were exposed to the Word, and many were prayed with. A number of people prayed to receive Jesus too, including a Muslim man. It was a powerful time.
Here’s a few team pics. A few people are missing.
Here’s a little highlight reel. I honestly think we had more fun than everyone else at the event!
Here’s a few ministry pics:
The most profound interaction I had was with this young man, who ended up being a prophetic sign from God to me.
His name is Shamar, and he’s the only person I’ve ever met with that name. Shamar and his girlfriend had just finished praying with one of our team to receive the Lord when I came up and talked to him.
When he told me what his name was, I asked him if he knew that his name is a Hebrew word that is used throughout the Bible. His eyes got wide, he cracked an excited smile, and then he said “no, I didn’t.”
I pulled out my blue letter bible app and I took him right to the book that the Lord first showed me this through- Psalm 121.
“I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not smite you by day, Nor the moon by night.
The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The LORD will watch over your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever.”
The word shamar (spelled “samar” but pronounced the same) is used 6 times in this chapter and is translated- keep, keeper, guard, protect and watch over.
I shared all this with Shamar and he was blown away. It was like the Lord was giving him a new identity as well as a prophetic word.
While having this interaction, the Lord told me very clearly that meeting Shamar was meant to be a sign to me. That morning, I had just resigned from my place of work to begin working somewhere else after 16 years. It’s a long story but the trial that led to this had been going on for 10 months and was VERY much testing my faith.
While talking to Shamar, the Lord told me that meeting him was a sign that I didn’t have to worry because He was still “Shamar-ing” me too.
It was super encouraging and it brought so much peace to my heart. So wild how the Lord can do these things.
After we left Tampa, I went to Riverwalk, and by then the wind was blowing HARD. It was also in the 40’s so I wasn’t surprised when I pulled in and saw virtually nobody.
Here’s a video I took:
I wanted to at least do something while I was there though so I walked to the bathroom hoping I would run into someone. Sure enough, 4 teenage boys were outside the bathroom right as I walked up.
I asked them if they knew about Jesus and they said yes. I asked if they were following Jesus and two said they were praying a little bit and one said he reads the bible sometimes. I spoke with them for a minute and then prayed with them. They all prayed with me to receive Jesus.
After that, I went back home to warm up.
That night, for the first time in over 36 years, the city of David received snow!
You can see it in this video. Make sure you watch until the end:
I feel like this snowfall was a sign of a new chapter in our area, but still waiting for fuller revelation of what that means exactly.
He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’
Job 37:6
The next day was super cold too, so we weren’t expecting many people at Siesta. We did get to sow into a few dozen people who gathered in the pavilion for the drum circle though. And, what was really nice, was that the drummers actually seemed to be intentionally extending their break times so we could preach while it was quiet. That was refreshing!
Here’s a clip.
Another cool thing that happened that night was that the “spiritual leader” of the drum circle actually talked to me for the first time. He usually just ignores me, even when I greet him by name, but while standing by my van in the parking lot, I yelled to him that he had a nice van, because it looked just like mine. Turns out it’s the same make model and color, so maybe now he will feel more of a connection to me/us.
Gotta celebrate every little win!
In other Kingdom News, more altars to false gods will be coming down in the days ahead. The abortion giant Planned Parenthood officially dropped their lawsuit against the Trump administration for taking away their funding.
Planned Parenthood drops lawsuit challenging Trump administration’s Medicaid cuts
Over 50 death mills have already been shut down and this move means that number will only increase. Praise God!
Hope to see you soon!
CV