The Humble Beginnings of the Asbury Outpouring

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Asbury University is experiencing a move of God and there’s something extremely exciting about it that you need to see!!!! See the HUMBLE BEGINNINGS of this move of God- https://vimeo.com/797744823/9e907f4d59 – THIS is the chapel service from which the outpouring started. Please take a look at it – fast forward through it. It’s not all that exciting – haha. The lighting is blah, the speaker who gives the call to come pray is not charismatic or extremely passionate (not a knock on her, she probably could be – she just wasn’t here). The worship team is . . . average (I don’t want to be critical) – they’re students, and they’re inviting God’s presence – but they’re not the reason that thousands of people are lining up at four different buildings across campus right now. I’m sure they’d be humble enough to say this. There’s no major personalities, or fanfare, or videos, or even lyrics on screens.

Watch the above video progress . . . a few prayer people at the altar, a few people come up for prayer, along with a few to pray on their own. The prayer continues. STUDENTS BEGIN PRAYING FOR EACH OTHER! It dissipates and almost dies down in one area of the front, then begins to fire up in another area . . . a little. Some students leave, a few more come. The worship team switches out, has fits and starts, builds momentum sometimes, sucks momentum other times. The altar prayer continues . . . then, right before the video ends, the altar prayer time begins to grow . . .

All of this points to the fact that God is involved! In a generation (and a nation) that is longing for the authentic, chafing at something being forced, and running from God and church (in general), this is the move that God chose to pour Himself out through . . . and it’s perfect! It’s beautiful! It’s just like our God!

Will there be personalities and charisma that arise out of this? Probably. But never forget the origin! God moving on people’s hearts so that they HAD to respond to His presence, they are compelled to stay, they are compelled to repent, compelled to worship, compelled to pray, compelled to seek God! I can’t wait for what God is sparking through this – I want to be a part of it! You should too!

Dr. Jared Stepp

Roe v. Wade was overturned – Why? What now?

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Roe v Wade was struck down on Friday, Why is this important? Why is this the right thing? Why have we been fighting for this for so long? How does this help our country? How is this a win for Christians? . . . AND . . . What do we do from here? . . . This video is personal and gives lots of Scriptures, resources, rebuttles to arguments, and practical training for moving forward! Check out the video here . . . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM1eHDbaUWk.

Love & Blessings to all, Jared

How to Change Your Family Legacy

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My grandpa went to be with Jesus today.  He came from brokenness to Jesus and changed EVERYTHING for my family. He was 96 years young today when he passed, still knew how to make people laugh, and loved grandma (93) so well, although listening to them bicker because they couldn’t hear each other was quite a show.

He was one of my heroes, here’s why. Before him, my family’s legacy was brokenness – addiction, abuse, homelessness, prostitution, prison, etc. He ran away from his abusive homelife as a teenager, was taken in by a Christian family, met Jesus, and EVERYTHING CHANGED! Although abused, he did not abuse his children, or get enslaved by addiction. He passed on faith in Jesus to my dad, who passed it to me and I to my kids. Our family’s legacy is now doctors, pastors, missionaries, teachers, families that stay together, and stability.

He broke the line of destruction in my family, and started a line of life. I hope that encourages anyone who’s endeavoring to break the line of destruction in your own family. The answer is Jesus, and the proof is this joy-filled man of God.

He served in WWII, built houses in Chicago for 37 years. Then he spent 41 years in retired life as a fisherman and golfer extraordinaire, with a wonderful tropical fruit orchard, and weekly trips to Upper Room Assembly of God and Golden Corral. He taught me how to fish, to golf (I wasn’t a great student – haha), to pound a nail, to have a commitment to laughter, and how to rewrite family legacy for God. I loved him, and today I honor him.

The Most Important Skill in Developing Discernment with God

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“I’m not crying, you’re crying,” as happy tears run down both our faces. Remember I’m a sympathetic crier – haha. God had given me a picture of a flower (a Jack in the Pulpit, to be exact). Then I described what I felt like God was saying through that picture and it hit so deeply to the heart that water works started and so much long-term fruit as well. 5 years later it’s still bearing fruit. So, how did I know God was speaking to me? Why was I confident that I was sharing something from God and not just my head? The short answer – discernment. Discerning between spirits (1 Cor 12:10) – human spirit, demonic spirits or Holy Spirit.

If you’ve felt like you heard from God before in your life – you’ve used this gift. It may have been direction from God – He led you to your spouse, or to a job, or to our church, but it produced good fruit in your life, therefore, you have reason to believe it was God, not you. It may have been a picture from God that gave you hope when hope seemed lost – fruitful. This may possibly be the most important skill in my journey of developing discernment with God. That skill is . . .

Reverse engineering a fruitful encounter with God. What!?!? Let me explain . . . You feel like you hear from God. You try something based on that. It produces good fruit. Maybe amazing fruit. That means you have reason to believe that this encounter with God was genuine.

How do you reverse engineer a fruitful encounter with God? I would start with a few questions when looking back on the time that you received the word or picture from God that produced good fruit.

  1. How did I feel at the moment I received that communication from God? Take a snapshot in your spirit of that moment, remember the sights and sounds around it.
  2. What, that day, led up to that encounter with God? How was my day going before the encounter? What had I done, said? How had I spent my time?
  3. What, in that season of life, led up to that encounter with God? How was my prayer life, church life, Bible study, etc.? How was my heart? How recently had I repented of sin?

When you see clearly the circumstance that spawned authentic encounters with God in the past in your life, that will give you clues as to how to repeat them. It will also help you to discern ahead of time better when they’re happening again. This speaks to your personal history with God. I cannot pray and impart this to you. You have to forge this in your own prayer life. This is a pursuit I intend to continue growing in the rest of my life personally.

Pray this prayer with me, “Lord, I want to hear and know Your voice. God, that Your voice would be so clear and obvious to me that I would catch it the first time, and act on it, giving Your goodness away to my world. Train me Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.”

Do it Again

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Lights turned out on 300+ kids in the middle of our worship set, no sound. I’m almost the only adult in the room (my worship team was teenagers, and the other camp counselors were in a counselors meeting)! Kid’s camp was about to get WILD! It was like instantly the blood pressure went up for everyone in the room – panic mode was loaded and ready! . . .

But God . . . had been BURNING IN MY HEART exactly what needed to happen next. I put my guitar down, and started yelling out over the crowd of 1st-6th Graders, “God’s wants to do something awesome right now, who in the room has pain or sickness right now?” About 70 hands went up. “Everyone else go to someone with their hand up and start praying for healing. Don’t pray wimpy prayers . . .”

About 15 minutes later the adults started filtering back into the room (they were a little bewildered). Lights had come back on, and there was a line of children coming up to the stage and telling about how God had healed them that morning. That morning Jesus healed 100% of the kids who were sick or in pain! Not one left with sickness or pain that day! Jesus is amazing! Only Jesus! That was the Pennsylvania-Delaware AG District Kid’s Camp of 2015 on the Thursday in July, 4 days before I preached at Journey Life Church for the first time.

I say all that to say, “Lord, do it again!” That’s the phrase that the word “testimony” implies – “do it again.” My HEART BURNS day after day for God to do what only He can do. Holy Spirit remembers how to do it and He’s energized by that prospect too. Join me in testifying and in praying, “Lord, do it again!”

Thanksgiving and Christmas meet here . . .

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These two wonderful holidays that people like to separate and even pit against each other. Besides eating till our buttons pop, and we regret all our life choices. There’s a more important thing these holidays have in common . . .

Psalm 107:8 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, 9 for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

Then right before Christmas, Mary sings . . .

Luke 1:53 [God] has filled the hungry with good things

Evidently, filling hungry bellies SHOULD be a part of our Thanksgiving and our Christmas celebrations. But what does the Scripture say – GOD is the one who fills hungry bellies. He gives you the ability to produce wealth (Deut 8:18), to pay for food, and the ability to prepare and eat it – so God gets all the glory, “whether you eat, drink or whatever you do – do all for the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31).

So when you’re sucking down your favorite Thanksgiving treats this week – PRAISE GOD, and wear the stretchy pants, and make wise choices, and start a workout plan, but mostly praise God!

Saturate this . . .

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Have you ever needed extra, EXTRA assurance from God? Have you ever KNOWN for sure that you heard from God, but you’re still freaking out about obedience? Gideon relates. He’s hiding. An angel shows up – he immediately questions the angel! (Judges 6:13) Then again (6:15). Gideon asks for a sign (6:17), then another (6:37), then ANOTHER (6:39) – “Saturate this fleece . . . saturate the ground, not the fleece.” God knew Gideon was freaking out. In fact, in chapter 7 God gives Gideon a fourth sign for free (7:9-15)!

Does God know that we need assurances? Does He know we wrestle with insecurities when it comes to our life and the supernatural? Of course. Will He give your FOUR SIGNS like He did Gideon? Maybe. I do know this – God likes to SATURATE PEOPLE more than He likes to saturate fleeces. That’s what baptism is – saturation, full immersion. There’s water baptism, and Holy Spirit baptism. The fun part about Holy Spirit baptism is that you STAY SATURATED! You walk around soaked with the power of Holy Spirit.

So here’s the prayer, “Father, saturate me in your Spirit, so that everyone around me can see and experience You through me. Not for my good, but for Yours and for Your world, in Jesus name. Amen.”

Revival’s Secret Sauce . . .

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“ARE YOU SAVED, SANCTIFIED, AND FILLED WITH THE HOLY GHOST!?!” I can still hear the preacher yelling, or even singing (thanks Carman – haha), from revival atmospheres years ago. Most people understand saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, but . . . what is sanctified again? It’s a big churchy sounding word. And this concept has been a part of nearly every revival that I can track all the way back into the book of Acts. Sanctified means Saint-ified, or becoming a saint, becoming set apart for God. The process of becoming set apart and holy only unto God. It’s a necessary part of the Christian life. In fact, it’s assumed in the Bible that this is happening to Christians . . .

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:18 NIV)

What does this mean? Holiness. “Ooooohh, that’s not a popular word today Pastor Jared. Didn’t that word get canceled or something?” Not by actual Christians it didn’t! Cause it’s in the Bible . . . a lot. So does Holiness mean, no makeup, bow ties or dancing legalism? NO. Holiness means that we look more like Jesus today than when we first believed! And here’s why it’s been a part of every revival that I have studied – because you and I NEED the transformational, miraculous power of Holy Spirit to become holy! There’s no other way. Everything in us and our culture pushes against becoming more like God – ONLY through the specific powerful working of the Holy Spirit are you going to be formed more into image of the Son of God.

But it’s worth it, and it’s simpler than you think. Pray with me right now, “Holy Spirit, in what specific way do you want to make me more like Jesus today?” Then listen. Then respond.

Feeling God . . .

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“You all are addicted to feelings! It’s all emotionalism with you Pentecostals!” “Well, phooey on you too, you jerk faces!” – is what I said in my head. But not out loud, because that would have played in to their point (I was thinkin’ – haha). Those kinds of accusations make you think – should we FEEL GOD!?! Are emotions wrong in faith and spirituality!?! The answer is yes (we should feel God) and no (emotions are NOT wrong in faith). Here’s why . . .

The Bible is FULL OF EMOTIONS and emotional responses to God! The word “heart” lev (601x’s in Hebrew OT) and kardia (156x’s in Greek NT) are emotional words. There’s lots of dancing in Scripture, shouting, crying out, falling on knees and face, lifting hands, clapping, laughing, crying, etc. Read Psalms and see if you can get through 3 verses without emotional language. Read prophecies (about 1/3 of the Bible) and see if they don’t quickly tug on your heart. Jesus’ teaching focused on heart language first before doctrine. In fact, it’s fairly obvious that the Bible is full of more emotions than it is doctrine – that sounds controversial, but it’s really not. Take an honest inventory.

Here’s the bottom line – I would charge that people who DON’T seek to feel God are following their lack of emotions rather than the Word of God. The Bible is an emotional book, BECAUSE we are emotional beings. The Bible comes to the mind through way of the heart. Jesus healed or prophesied BEFORE he taught in most cases, and so did the apostles. I’m not saying that we should be addicted to emotions. I’m not saying that we just need to go from one Holy Spirit fix to the next, like Holy Spirit junkies. The Word of God can stabilize us in times where the feeling is not there. However, if my experience doesn’t line up with the Word of God, then it’s my experience that’s wrong, not the Bible. The Bible is overwhelmingly full of emotional responses to God and His works – we’re allowed to seek to be more like God in this way . . .

Here’s how – ask God right now, “God, is there an area of my emotions I’ve been holding back from you? God, I open myself up to you, to work in EVERY part of me right now, in Jesus name. Amen.” Then stay in God’s presence . . . just . . . stay.

The Antidote to Legalism . . .

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Can we all agree that legalism isn’t helpful? Laws for the sake of laws in the church, trying to save people from themselves has a long history of overuse. That said, we are TERRIBLE at restraining our sinful impulses in the modern church. Why is that? What is the healthy way to approach living for Jesus, restraining sin, embracing right actions? The answer is simpler than you think, however, I don’t hear anyone talking about it, or connecting it as the antidote. So this is coming to you by revelation from the Lord, I believe . . .

Self-control is the antidote to legalism, the prophetic opposite, God’s designed way for us to live for Him, restrain sin, and embrace right actions. Self-control is a Fruit of the Spirit! Self-control or self-discipline is one of the primary ways God wired you to fight sin. Here’s the difference – legalism says, “this worked for me, so every person everywhere MUST now do this, or else they’ll be punished.” Legalism then uses Scriptures that are designed by Holy Spirit to train our conscience and discernment with the Holy Spirit as a hammer to demand compliance. Legalism doesn’t work (Col 2:20-23). Self-control, on the other hand, is RELATIONAL. Self-control works in perfect harmony with the PERSON of the Holy Spirit, Who guides you into appropriate and specific guardrails, restraints, goals and directives that motivate rather than mandate right living.

Self-control says, “God has called me to a system of guardrails, goals and directives, let that inspire you to get to know Holy Spirit for yourself and develop your own guardrails, goals and directives!” Legalism says, “I’M restraining myself and doing all of this, so you HAVE to also, and if you don’t you’ll be punished!” One is healthy, relational and motivational and the other is demoralizing and condemning. Now let me be clear, there ARE categories of things that God has specifically asked all Christians everywhere to do or not do in the Bible (ie. the 10 commandments, the sexuality laws, love one another, and SO MANY others). However, we err, if we think EVERYTHING falls in that category. Then, we’re not reliant on Holy Spirit for guidance daily, which is what is REQUIRED of us (John 10:27).

So here’s the antidote . . . ask Holy Spirit for the proper guardrails, restraints, goals and directives to motivate yourself to right living. YOU NEED THESE! Don’t neglect this! Then by example and through love you GET TO motivate others to seek Holy Spirit too. So do it, right now, ask God, “What guardrails, restraints, goals and directives do I need today to motivate right living?”

Also, COME THIS SUNDAY where we’re going to break out these very matters of conscience in fuller detail from Romans 14! This may be the most practical message you ever experience!