6.28.2006

Bruce on the RADIO #4

From a comment by Sharon (at "New Wine Bottles?"):

Announcing another radio interview that can be heard on the internet!

June 29, 2006
“Live with Jeff and Lee”
KKMS AM980
Minneapolis/St. Paul
5:15 p.m. CDT (3:15 PDT)
www.kkms.com

Anyone, anywhere can listen to these interviews online – just connect to their web site and click on the listen button.

Need to figure out the time zone difference for your location – go to www.timeanddate.com where you will find a time converter. You can convert the CDT by using Chicago to match up to your location – or you can convert the PDT by using Los Angeles to match up to your location.

6.24.2006

New Wine Bottles?

Last week I visited the Whole Foods Market in West L.A.

Walking the aisles I saw shelves of wine and hard liquor - Vodka and the like. And what struck me were the bottles. One in particular was white and translucent with a tear drop shape, with an added long beautiful slender neck. It made the drink inside look very tasty (is that the word?).

Wine is still wine, and liquor is still liquor, but my eyes immediately went to that trendy looking bottle.

Now, I don't drink, but I bring this up, because if Jesus used an analogy of "new wine" going into "new wineskins," I figured, I could take a cue from Him and use this modern-day wine bottle design to say something.

This past friday I had the opportunity to show an old Christian music video to my youth group. I grew up on this stuff and I know it tremendously inspired me to live for the kingdom of God when I was 13 years-old. But, I had forgotten that these videos are now over 10 years old. And these kids are of a different generation. Only ten years younger than me, yet they were never around to witness the birth of the Information Superhighway - the Internet as we know it today - is something that, in their minds, always was.

No, I'm not trying to make a separation between the generations. In the Body of Christ, there is no such thing. The Spirit of God brings unity in the bond of love.

But, back to the Vodka (and yes, I'll get to JOHN somewhere in this blog!). It was striking to see it in a deliciously new fangled bottle.

Last week I picked up a worship music CD called "Passion: Everything Glorious." It's a live recording born out of the Passion Conferences in the U.S. for college-aged people. The music is all out rock. Yet, the lyrics, and the spirit of the songs, and the guest speakers (like John Piper, Beth Moore, even Kirk Cameron) often associated with the Passion Conferences - their message is simply this: Let's live a Christ-centered life.

These college kids attending these conferences call themselves the "268 Generation." It's from Isaiah 26:8, which says,

Yes, LORD, walking in the way of Your laws, we wait for You;
Your Name and renown are the desire of our hearts.

One of the songs on this CD is called "All We Need," and a part of the lyrics goes like this: "Rich or poor, God, I want You more / Than anything that glitters in this world" (Written by Charlie Hall. Copyright 2006 by worshiptogether.com Songs / sixsteps Music [ASCAP] / Admin. by EMI CMG Publishing).

Did you hear that? These college kids, instead of drinking it up or partying it up, are saying with all their being: God, I want You more than anything that glitters in this world!

JOHN is a project for the entire Body of Christ. Young and old. Black and White. Yellow and Brown. American and Russian. Chinese and Mexican. African and European. It's for the suburban church. It's for the underground church. It's for those who have bowed the knee to Jesus - and for those who have yet to "taste and see that the LORD is good."

So, I've begun to email the headquarters of the Passion Movement at 268generation.com. I've sent a postcard to the headquarters of JAMA: Jesus Awakening Movement for America/All Nations. These are the ministries that I know of who want to reach the young generation, to call them to arms for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To live God-centered lives. I'm sure there are many more ministries like these.

Oh, how I was touched to receive a message from a believer in Croatia, who prays for JOHN. Oh, how I was touched to see a message from a brother in South Africa. (The World Cup will go to South Africa in 2010. I pray that the Gospel would go forth as well.)

Contact the radio stations. Talk to your local pastors. Talk to your friends and neighbors. Contact the youth conferences. "Preach the gospel in season and out of season."

We are co-laborers in His kingdom. "Onward Christian solider, marching as to war..." As we fix our eyes on Jesus, propelled by the Spirit of God, "we stand alone together," as we strive with the Spirit of God to bring THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN to the screen and JESUS into the hearts of many.

6.21.2006

Bruce on the RADIO #3

From a comment by Sharon (at "Bruce on the RADIO #2"):

Here’s an update on two radio interviews coming up:

Saturday, June 24 – 10 a.m. CDT
Circle of Friends
90.1 FM WMBI – Chicago
www.wmbi.fm

Thursday, June 29 – 7:40-8:00 a.m. CDT
The Morning Show
88.3 WJNF
www.wjnf.org

Anyone, anywhere can listen to these interviews online – just connect to their web site and click on the listen button.

Need to figure out the time zone difference for your location – go to www.timeanddate.com where you will find a time converter. Both of these shows are in the Central (US) time zone so just convert the time for Chicago to your location.

6.19.2006

A Prayer for JOHN

I read this prayer left by a fellow John supporter and immediately was struck by a sense of awe. It was a prayer so drenched in the Word and the Spirit, it almost seemed prophetic to me.

I recall this prayer now with media opportunities for John beginning to open up and remind myself that it is "not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord."

I remind myself that this prayer is only representative of the countless hours that countless saints of God spent in their prayer closets for the better part of 10 years (I presume) for John.

I hope this prayer blesses you, too (if you haven't yet seen it).

The following is excerpted from a comment by KTR (at "The Word to the World - Pt 1"):

"Father in heaven, thank You for bringing us together in the Spirit. Grant us the grace and courage we need to walk closely with Jesus, identifying with Him in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. Grant us Your love for those still in darkness, but more than that, grant us Your love for each other, so that those in the darkness will see our unity in Christ and believe...

"Oh, Lord, we love Your Word. The Gospel of John is such a wonderful gift from Your heart to Your bride. Lead Bruce in putting it into film format, so that multitudes upon multitudes can see and hear how 'I AM' became flesh and dwelt among us, all for love. So that one by one, people can get a glimpse of Who You are, what You've done just for them, and how responding to You is the entire point of their existence...

"Father God, we ask You to cause the growth of this project in love, to let the news of it run throughout the Church and win the support of the entire Body of Christ. We ask that we would continually lay down our thoughts and our ways, and receive Your thoughts and Your ways. We take off our own shoes, our own plans, and we receive the holy shoes of the gospel of peace that You have prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Thank You so much for all of this, for all of each other, for all of You. We bless You, Lord."

When Leaving a Comment

Praise God!

Everytime I see a new comment on this blog, I get so excited, and praise God that He's brought us together in this work.

As the blog grows, in order to aid in the better communication in our blog world, let me ask you to follow a simple procedure when leaving a comment:

If you DO NOT have a Blogger account, please do not use the "Anonymous" option. Instead, please select the option called "Other" and type in your screen name. This is so that we don't end up with a bunch of comments - all by a person named "anonymous." When choosing the "Other" option, you do not need to submit an email address.

Examples of screen names (the possibilities are endless as you can make up any screen name as you'd like):

  • jesus-luvr
  • chloe s.
  • jesus freak 2001
  • james k.
If you DO have a Blogger account, please log in to your account and leave us a comment identifying yourself using your Blogger name.

I'll write an actual blog entry real soon. Until then, news of Bruce's media appearances on behalf of JOHN is really exciting. PRAISE JESUS!

Bruce on the RADIO #2

I am "utterly amazed" as I write these words...God is awesome!

From a comment by Sharon (at "Bruce on the RADIO"):


Announcing another radio interview:


Saturday, June 24 - 8:00 a.m. PDT
Circle of Friends
90.1 FM WMBI – Chicago

You can listen to the interview online at: www.wmbi.fm

Bruce will be sharing his vision for “The Gospel According to John.” Thanks for your prayers!

Thanks to everyone for their work to help get the word out. It's happening! Praise God!!!

6.16.2006

Bruce on the RADIO

From a comment by Sharon (at "The Word to the World Pt 2"):

Just wanted to alert the bloggers that Bruce will be talking about "The Gospel According to John" on ["Live From Seattle with Thor Tolo"] this Tuesday (June 20, 2006) at 5:15 PM [Pacific Standard Time - U.S.]. That’s on 820AM - KGNW in the Seattle, WA area. You can get more information on the station at their web site www.kgnw.com.

Thanks KT for getting the word out to the radio station for us!!!

6.14.2006

The Word to the World (Pt 2)

What is the uniqueness of JOHN?

So far, there have been over one hundred "Jesus movies" made. Films about Jesus.

In my phone conversation with Bruce earlier today, I shared with him what I had been learning from a book called When I Don't Desire God by John Piper.

As Christians we all know how important the Bible is to our daily walk with Jesus. It is central. It is our final authority. Jesus is the very Word of God.

But, Piper expressed this very uniquely:

He pointed to 1 Samuel 3:21, "And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD," and expounded it like this: "As the Word was heard, the Lord was seen. In the hearing was the seeing. The spiritual hearing of God's Word becomes the spiritual seeing of God's glory" (Piper, 95).

And that's the goal of JOHN. By making a word-for-word, scripture-by-scripture film of the entire Gospel According to John in the New International Version (NIV) of the Holy Bible, we are presenting before a generation of people saturated by multi-media: the Word of God, so that in hearing it, they may "see" the heart of Jesus, by the Spirit of God.

That's why JOHN won't be "just another Jesus movie." It will be His Word, and the Spirit of God revealing Jesus through that Word.

So, Bruce prays about the scripting process. To weed out everything that is "of man," and seeks only the things of the Spirit - without losing sight of the fact that this is a film, and it must be done with creative/artistic excellence (and still be driven by the Spirit and dripping with His anointing).

"In the beginning was the Word..." (John 1:1).
Drumroll!
Fanfare!
The Glory of God!
Jesus Himself!

The Word to the World

Hello, everyone!

While Bruce is busy attending to his father in the hospital, he's not able to check our blog, but I just got off the phone with him. He's really excited to hear that the blog is really coming alive. He was blessed to hear of comments coming in from various people including South Africa!

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in ALL THE WORLD."

Thank you for prayers and support so that through JOHN the Word can go out to the world.

I've got to share a lesson I'm learning from a book about the power of the Word... but next time ;-)

6.10.2006

Remember Hope

The crucifixion of Jesus was (seemingly) the greatest victory for the enemy. But as it turned out, it was actually the crucifixion that was the defeat of Satan, and hell and death and the grave. It is the cross that has given us life eternal.

It seems the enemy is pulling out all the stops to deter the work of MarchMin and JOHN. Even at my church, I'm experiencing the enemy trying to gnaw away at my spiritual strength - and in turn the entire youth ministry there.

But, we "stick to our guns." We don't buckle, nor do we give in to the ways of men. Instead, we "pray, pray, pray."

Let me share with you a passage of Scripture that I shared with my youthworkers at church today. It's Psalm 71:1

In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.

Where ever it is you are, whatever it is you are struggling through, trust in the words of Jesus, and have hope. His Word is true forever. "Heaven and earth shall disappear, but my words remain forever."

Bruce is standing strong and JOHN continues to move forward in God's undaunted faithfulness.

So, remember the words of Jesus...and have hope. He'll never let you or I to be put to shame because we have taken refuge in Him.

6.07.2006

Ideas...

Hi. Ronald here again :)

I just came back from sending another one of the JOHN postcards. And I thought, "I wonder what other are people doing in promoting this project?"

What's your story? Share with us your ideas.