Down the Narrow Path

The Tauranga House of Prayer (THOP) has just released it's first two promotional videos. One is for the House of Prayer itself; the other is for the Awaken Internship, a three month intensive run here at the House of Prayer. Below is the promo for THOP. I've included the script for each video below for you to read as well.

- THOP PROMO -

Throughout history a stream of day and night prayer has existed. A stream where the beauty of Jesus was beheld, where His word was cherished, and where His zeal for the nations was born in hearts. That stream has become a mighty torrent as we approach His return in the end of this age, just as He promised.

From Adam, Eve, Enoch, and Noah, to Moses and the establishment of the priesthood; from Samuel in the house of the Lord, to David in the building of the tabernacle. From prophetic voices such as Elijah, Jeremiah, and Malachi emerging from the place of prayer, to the raising up of John the Baptist and Anna to pray and fast to prepare Israel for the first coming. From the day and night prayer in Jerusalem of the early church, to the missions movement that grew out of Antioch. We see the stream of prayer flowing steadily throughout Biblical times.

And in post biblical history, we see the emergence of the desert fathers in the North African wilderness, to challenge the apostate nationalized church of the day. Around 550 A.D., we see Kumgal, in Bangor Island, who established day and night prayer in the spirit of the tabernacle of David, where hundreds of men sang the psalms 24 hours a day. From Bangor came a missions movement that touched the edges of the Roman Empire.

Between then and the time of the Reformation, we saw the pioneering of thousands of missions bases, centered around day and night prayer. And out of one of those expressions, came a young monk named Martin Luther, who sparked the Reformation and forever changed history. In the wake of the Reformation came a century of sustained day and night prayer and worship in Hurnhut, Germany. From Hurnnut came the greatest missions movement the earth has ever seen. Between then and now, the earth has seen day and night prayer catalyzing hundreds of dramatic revivals; from Edinburgh, to Wales, to New England, to Colombia, Indonesia, China, South Korea, and beyond.

And now, at the ends of the earth, at the end of the age in Tauranga, New Zealand, God is raising up day and night prayer and worship in the spirit of the tabernacle of David, as full time singers and musicians minister to the Lord, and messengers are forged to prepare the earth for Jesus' return.

Throughout church history, a divorce has occurred; we've divided the people of God into three little groups. Those who love the nations are sent into missions. Those who love the diligent study of the Scripture hide away in seminaries and bible schools. And those who love the place of prayer, meditation, and contemplation are sent to monasteries and convents. And rarely, if ever, do we see these camps come together; nor do the values and philosophies bleed into each other. But this is changing and it must change because the impact of this divorce has done incalculable damage to the family of God.

Since January of 2006, we've been gathering daily in the place of prayer, believing one day for a prayer meeting to start that will never end. And, there, from the ends of the earth at the end of the age, we might hear the song, "Glory to the Righteous One!"

- Awaken Promo -

We are living in a unique time in history. I believe that we are in profound crisis in the western church in this hour. "More, more, more!" has become the motto of a generation who are giving themselves fully and unapologetically to the things of this world. And there is an industry that is committed to spewing forth on a daily basis options for our generation to be satisfied. Options to be filled; option after option in an attempt to secure their affection.

You see, we're paradoxes; we're complex beings. Though we live in a realm that is finite, though we live in a realm that is temporal, because we are made in the image of God, we are created for God. We are created for transcendence, and in this hour we have a generation in a feeding frenzy. And they are feasting on the things that are temporal. They are feasting on the things that are finite. And "more, more, more!" has become the motto of this restless generation. They are in a feasting in frenzy on temporal things to answer their longing for God. And like the folly of the hamster on a wheel, they keep eating and eating. No matter how much, no matter how the variety, they are left deeply dissatisfied.

They have feasted and are left empty. And they are like a bent up volcano waiting to explode, and as this generation has been swept away into the world, into media, into finite pleasures, us as leaders in the land, we have remained silent on these issues. And we're pretending hopefully the problem might just go away. You see the padded chairs, the huge projector screens, the multi-million dollar buildings with our nice, slick services; they do nothing - absolutely nothing to touch the seedbed of desire that is in the human heart. And an industry has come into the church and has attempted to allure a generation into these pleasures and the war has been won uncontested. We have been silent.

I believe that something has to change.

A change is coming. God is articulating the nature of this change to the nations of the earth. The life of John the Baptist is a clear picture and a clear model of what this change will look like. John was a man of deep and satisfying intimacy with God, and a man who had radical and dramatic impact on his nation and on his generation.

Where did John get his intimacy, and where did he get his impact? The answer is this: in the wilderness. The wilderness was indispensable to the forging and the formation of John the Baptist. I believe that God is setting apart a generation and beckoning a generation to the wilderness. For in the womb of the wilderness, messengers are being forged and a new paradigm of leadership is beginning to emerge.

In Tauranga, New Zealand we want to see things done differently. And we're committed to calling a generation to go hide themselves that, one day, they might show themselves.