Father of Lights

Meet Ravi. In my travels around the world, I get to see many wonderful things and meet many amazing people. But few come close to the sheer unbelievability of my friend, Ravi. Anyone doubting that God still speaks to his children today and that he wants to be intimately involved in our lives, need only spend a little time with this loving, humble man. Ravi has an incredibly unique gift from God, whom he calls, "Daddy." Ravi, you see, hears the audible voice of God, everyday. When Ravi was 17 years old, his life was a mess and he was about to kill himself when God spoke to him, audibly, and revealed Himself to Ravi. So ever since then, for 20 years, God wakes Ravi up at 4 am and gives him his marching orders for the day. I had tried to film with him for my second movie, Furious Love, but when Ravi asked Him if He could, God said, "Not yet." So when God woke him up one day and told him it was, quote, "time to film with Darren," let's just say it was a banner day for me and my team. The idea was simple yet slightly terrifying. We fly out to India to meet with Ravi, he'll ask God what we should do, and then we'll do whatever God says. Seeing as God has been known to give Ravi GPS, turn-by-turn directions to remote villages, my team and I were more than a little excited about what we were about to experience. But honestly, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. As we were walking towards where God told him a village was, Ravi told me the Lord had shown him a small bridge with a water pump nearby, and when we saw that, we were close. We turned a corner, and there it was. Ravi went right into the center of the village and began preaching. While this was going on, a bunch of men showed up from the nearby Hindu temple. We couldn't help but notice the machetes in their hands. ♪ Music ♪ We were in the middle of nowhere preaching a forbidden Jesus to machete-wielding Hindus, and they didn't seem too happy with us. I didn't know whether to keep filming or run. ♪ Music ♪ Of all the men, one in particular, that man, on the left there, seemed quite interested in what Ravi had to say. He listened intently as Ravi talked about his Daddy, the God of the Bible. When Ravi asked if anyone wanted to accept this God as their own, this man revealed his heart immediately. Soon after, Ravi prayed for the man, and it was only after this that we found out who this guy actually was. Every five years, there is a major festival held at the local temple--the same temple that our machete friends had just come from. This man, in this village, by this water pump, was the man in charge of that festival. Over 10,000 people show up at this festival, and it just so happened that it was to take place in two months time. But of course, now the man in charge had just encountered the Father, and, well, that changes a few things. He's saying, there's a peace right here. Ravi just brought the light of the Father to this man, and now that light will come upon thousands more. This was a simple taste of mind boggling events yet to come. These kinds of events are commonplace for Ravi because he understands who his Daddy is. That He is a loving, trustworthy Father who actually desires friendship with us. That's a far cry from what a lot of others believe about him. I think most people see Father, if we're talking about Father God, mostly mad or mostly sad. That's how I grew up thinking. And so, growing up, I just thought of God as this God that's out in outer space He's playing checkers with angels, sipping on lemonade while he's doing something with the gang up there. The biggest misconception of the Father, I think, is that he needs something from us or wants something from us. And, if you have natural children, of course you want them to manage themselves well but I don't think my parents have ever needed something back from me other than love and support. I think a lot of times I see people who are caught up in: I don't really know the Father as a father, I know him as a boss. The church as a whole uses fear to motivate people to do what's right and say that if you don't do this, God is going to get you. For instance, the church that I was raised in used to preach that if you don't pay your tithes, God will take it out in doctor bills, meaning that he would put you in the hospital and take the money from you that you should have given in tithes and God will just take it from you. A lot of people actually preach "The God Father" instead of God the Father. With these thoughts in mind, I flew out to LA to meet a guy named Doug Addison, who has a ministry speaking prophetically over people based on their tattoos. Yeah, you heard right: tattoo evangelism. Welcome to California. We had been invited to come do our thing in one of the hottest clubs in LA: the Supperclub. It was loud, it was dark, and it was one heck of a scene. ♪ Music ♪ As we ministered in the club, God began to move, and people were being touched by a God who didn't want to judge them, but simply love them. Jesus says if you see me, you see the Father. I think you've just got to lock that in: John 14:7-9. What Jesus reveals is that the essence of the Father's heart is agape love. That's why 1 John 4:8 says, "God is love." Father has a personality. He's God, he has a personality. And there is judgment and he does get angry. The thing that makes him angry is when people have no hunger. When people reject his son, it makes him angry. But when we know the love of Jesus, then we know the love of the Father. There's something about, when finally people, for the first time in their life, feel loved unconditionally. There is nothing you can do to earn his love. He's just wrapping his arms around you at your worst state, at your worst binge, and that's the revelation we try to give. There is no way in the world that you can outrun the love of God. To many Christians, this is a bad place filled with bad people. This was not a place where God wanted His kids to be. But then I heard what this woman said. And it dawned on me that these were his kids too. They just didn't know it yet, and they needed someone to tell them. So we headed down to one of the strangest places I've ever been: Venice Beach. I knew these were God's kids too, but I saw pretty quickly that they were, um, special. So Doug started praying for people, but something just wasn't right. The people were polite to us, but just barely. Hey, we're doing a show here. Anybody want have a dream interpreted or their tattoo interpreted? We're doing a documentary. Doug admitted to me that usually people down here are incredibly receptive, but for some reason it felt like something was blocking us. That's when I noticed these guys... They were killing my Holy Spirit mojo, and, as is usually the case whenever I see the fire and brimstone type, I was annoyed. So I approached one of them to find out why they come out here to do this. So you've been doing this since the 80s? Yeah. What made you start doing it? It seems like a good idea. The Bible says God's word won't return void. So people read God's Word on a banner as they're walking by, it's going to have some effect. And then there's actual Bible handouts over there, the Gospel of Joh and things like that. People are accountable once they hear and see God's Word. There are more confrontative parts to this ministry that I'm involved with because we actually go to the Sodomite parades. Hollywood, Long Beach, San Diego, Palm Springs. Well, that's a little bit different because that's more of a rebuke to those people. So you're rebuking them? Why wouldn't you love them? You do, but you rebuke them because most of these people, see, if it was a drunkard's parade, we would be out there rebuking the drunkards. But they're Sodomites and they are proud of their sin. So what did God do to *** and Gomorrah? Rain fire down from heaven. So we're just there to say, "Hey, wake up everybody!" What about the approach of... I mean, I understand that you believe what they're doing is wrong, but don't you think loving them would be more effective than... That is loving them. telling them they're sinners? The most loving thing you can do is tell them the truth. So have you guys ever had a conversion out here? There's been conversions from some of the literature. But not me personally. But I've only been doing this since the late 80s. These people have been doing it their whole life. For these people, their understanding of the Father colors their actions, as it does for all of us. They're doing what they think is right based on the the character of the God they believe in. Obviously, we had a pretty sizable difference of opinion, and I was angry because they were making evangelism harder for the rest of us. But then, in a moment of clarity, I realized an uncomfortable truth. I've always judged people like this, and I've never once stopped to love them. I've never done to them the very thing I'm judging them for not doing to others. Sometimes it's harder to love your own family than perfect strangers, and for better or worse, these were my brothers and sisters. I now knew the real reason God had brought me down here today... All day long we were reaching out and touching people. We didn't want to yell at them from afar, but to personally love them the way our Father loves them. It was time to take the plank out of our own eyes and extend love again. God, we bless Mike. And we bless him because he stood out here and taken ridicule and he has stood his ground. Father, I thank you that he is a good and faithful servant. I ask you to bless him with a greater level of finances. I pray for a return into his life. I pray for the healing anointing to come on him so he could actually go lay hands on people in the hospital and see them rise up. That power, the power that raised Jesus from the dead, is resting in Mike right now. We have different methods, we have different approaches, but we're on the same team. Amen. Thank you so much. It's good to talk to you. How long was it before the Israelites got off track? Moses came down from the mountain, he said, "I'll just be gone a little while," and he comes down from the mountain and there they are, smelting a golden calf. The Galatians. How long was it before the Galatians are acting foolish, "You foolish Galatians, who has tricked you?" This is not something that is new for 2012, 2013. This is not just a thing of today. This is thousands of years old. It was fifteen minutes before people started skewing the gospel and twisting it. Why? The answer is simple. We humans, we are suckers for religion. The religious spirit, it's demonic and it attempts to substitute a demonic power or a fleshly power for the power of the Holy Spirit. And the religious spirit is more concerned with what we look like than what we really are. The religious spirit wants punishment, some measurement of punishment. It was the religious spirit that had the priests, the Pharisees, with stones in their hand, wanting to kill. Jesus is right there with the woman caught in adultery. His interest wasn't "my image." "What are people going to think?" It wasn't his image. The interest was: Here's a person that's redeemable. And he wasn't going to get her turned around through judgment. The religious spirit is rooted in man trying to be righteous outside of relationship with God. It persecutes anything that looks like a relationship with God, and probably just as importantly, it becomes another set of rules. And I think the religious spirit can take on lots of different faces. For instance, in our culture, we have a signs and wonders school, Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry with 1300 students. My concern in our culture is that, doing the works of Jesus, in other words, healing the sick, casting out demons, prophesying for instance, that could just be another way I perform. And that's kind of the heart of Phariseeism. It's religious activity that we never let get to our heart. Or if it gets to our heart, it's an affection for the religious activity as opposed to God. So this people, Isaiah 29, this people really... "I'm on their lips, but I'm far from their heart." Jesus said that some will come to me and say, didn't we cast out demons, didn't we prophesy, didn't we do all these things? And he said, I never knew you. If the religious spirit is something to be avoided, then the obvious question is, what should we embrace? I saw the answer first hand in Chicago with this. It was an event called the Awakening, and it was by the ministry of Jesus Culture, led by Banning Liebscher. For three days, 15,000 people came together not to learn how to hold signs, but how to live a life rooted in relationship with God. In America, there's a generation that is experiencing more options than any generation in all of history. So the tendency to materialism or distraction or... Is so available, I mean the ability... The instant access to entertainment and social networks and internet and travel... There are so many options and choices in this generation. What excites me is that choices are powerful in the midst of options, not in the midst of no options. And I think we're going to see the most powerful generation the world has ever seen come out of an environment that gives them options and a generation's going to rise that their "yes" in their spirit will be so loud it will drown out everything else. On one of the days, over 1000 youth invaded Chicago with the love and power of God. We were with an old friend Chris Overstreet, when he saw a guy on the street corner preaching judgment. Chris couldn't help himself. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Is it okay if I share? I don't want to ruin your thing. Hi guys. I just have this wonderful opportunity. As you can see, I'm just a normal person here. But he gave me the microphone and it's pretty awesome. I just wanted to let you know that when I was 18 years old, I was dead inside; I was actually a walking zombie. When I was 18 years old, Jesus Christ came into my heart and he radically changed my life. I don't know if you can hear me right now, but if you can hear me, and if you don't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and you want your sins forgiven, I'd encourage you, give your heart to Jesus. He loves you so much. He's a God of love. He's a God of grace. He's not a God that's mad at us. Some people will stand on a corner and tell people how mad God is at them but the reality is God is a good God and God loves people. He loves each and every one of you. He's not mad at anyone. It's actually religion that preaches that God is mad. He's not mad, is this true? He's happy! So what I would say, Darren, is love never fails. And for us that are Christians, We have no right to throw a stone. We have no right to stand in the gap and pick up a stone and throw it at someone. God has given us, according to 2 Corinthians 5 after that famous verse "we are a new creation," the very next five or six verse says we have the ministry of reconciliation. He defines the ministry, Paul does, he defines the ministry of reconciliation as not holding their trespasses against them. Our approach is this: What if some of the disasters that come aren't really released necessarily because God wanted to destroy but because he gave the Church an option. In John 20 he said whoever you forgive, I forgive. If you retain the sins of any, I retain the sins. My question to our people is, what if these things come because the Church has held up accusation against the city of San Francisco? We've heard it said, if God doesn't judge San Francisco, he'll have to apologize to *** and Gomorrah. Hollywood: the filth they're releasing into the earth. Los Vegas, New Orleans, New York City. Those five cities are the most judged cities in the sense of natural disaster, economic crisis, and terrorism. But my question is, I wonder, if maybe, since he has given us his name, he has given us his authority, if maybe these things were released because the Church has been holding the sins against them. It is a prime time. It's a prime time for us to stand before God and realize I didn't deserve your mercy, I didn't deserve your grace. And in the same measure, I'm saying take the favor you've shown me and show it to them. I think we're positioned, if we catch the heart of the Lord on this, I think we can turn this thing. The key to capturing God's heart is rooted in first understanding His heart. Jesus did not ask us to tell people what they're doing wrong, he asked us to love. He never asked for converts, he asked for a bride, and that means he wants a relationship. Our love cannot be built with a wall that states we’ve got it right, you need to be more like us. Love is personal, it requires a touch... an embrace...a heart. The key, I was beginning to realize, was in understanding the very nature of grace. Well, you know, I could get really technical with this, but I would have to preach to do that. Just real simple, I think grace is God loving you and using you, ministering through you, in spite of who you are. It's not based on your performance. We're convinced that our sins are so big. We're convinced that our sins are a problem for God. That he's up in heaven, biting his nails and freaking out and furrowing his brow and saying I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe you're sinning so much. I had not anticipated this. And the scandal of grace is, it's radical injustice. In the real world of man's thinking, that he likes me for what I brought to the relationship. That is scandalous. That is injustice; it's not fair. And the Lord says, that's not supposed to be fair. I am God, my Son paid for the injustice. That's the scandal of grace. And what we learn is, is that our God is big and our sins are small and that's the beauty of grace. Jesus looked down the timeline of our sins, past, present, and future, made no distinction with regard to time of occurrence All of our sins were in the future when Christ died. And so what are we doing when we're saying it worked until salvation and now it's our job? That's an insult to the spirit of grace; it's an insult to the cross. Grace is the heartbeat of a relationship with the Father, but then I realized that it's hard to truly carry grace if you haven't had an encounter with the giver of grace. Now that I knew who God was theoretically, it was time to see him in action. ♪ Music ♪ I'm sure you remember my friend, Ravi. Well our adventures continued, and here I am walking down a path to the secluded home of the most powerful witch doctor in Southern India, and I'm so scared I feel like I'm about to throw up. Here's why... The television reports that came out were that this guy happened to go to the pastor's house. The news went around that he cursed a pastor. And that pastor, after two or three days, was dead on the ground. Both him and his wife were dead. Dead. The only way they got those powers that they had, he had especially, was innocent human being babies secretly that he had. And everyone knew it. People around the world were praying for us, many advising us not to do this. I didn't sleep at all the night before wondering if I'd ever see my wife and children again. But God said go, so we did... ♪ Music ♪ He is not coming out. He's scared to death. He doesn't want us to come inside. Why is he afraid? He's obviously afraid of us now. He's saying not to come in. Not to go inside. Is that right? Yeah. This back and forth continued for a while until his wife walked away. That's when Ravi decided to pray. Father, in Jesus' name, I come to your place, Daddy. And this is your place. We take over. We take over this place, Daddy. As this place would be a famous place for you. Release this right now. Release your Holy Spirit right now. Release your praise right now. In Jesus' name we pray. Umm... eh... Father, in Jesus' name, I pray that you would release this right now. That this is your place. We release your Holy Spirit. We release everything right now as he's right now inside. I pray that you would fill this place with your completeness. And I thank you for who you are. What just happened? They didn't want us to pray. He came to know that we were coming in. He is right now inside. There are no demons here. Everything is emptied. Usually what happens is, he can come out and talk to people. Since this afternoon he just got inside and did not come out. This is the guy. People come and see him. And he doesn't want to see me today. He's hiding inside and didn't want to come out at all. This tells me how much he's lost it. Have you heard what happened afterwards with him? What's the latest? The latest is, he has disappeared. No one knows where he is. His wife is there but we don't know where this guy is. No one knows what happened to him. It was that morning that he disappeared. His wife is still there? Is she still practicing witchcraft? Last I heard is that she's trying her best to take over his place. But she can't. She won't. Was part of it because of the prayer we prayed? It's God. You can't witness something like this and walk away unchanged. This was supposed to be a spiritual showdown between God and witchcraft, but it wasn't even a contest. This powerful witch doctor who cursed pastors to death, sacrificed babies to gain power, and could command elephants to do his bidding, cowered in a corner, terrified of the power we carried. The God we serve may be invisible, but to this witch doctor, he was all too real. We didn't threaten him, didn't try to fight him, we just showed up and the light within us, the light of our Father, invaded the darkness. Let me set the scene. You are sitting in a room with three of the more notorious members of the Chicago Latin Kings, which is one of the largest gangs in America. This one, Sam, is actually a General in the Kings, a major leader in the Chicago chapter. This meeting took two months of planning with Robby Dawkins and our friend Todd White. There were rumors of war starting in Chicago between rival gangs, and this meeting was set up to try and stop it. It didn't take long to see that these guys were no joke. I think that's some punk *** *** when you send a little kid here and not do it yourself. Me, when I was out here, I do my own shooting. I won't tell him, here's a gun, go send him. I say, where's the pistols at? Whoever wants to come, he can come, but I'm going to smoke these *** up. I don't have a problem with it. And I used to do shootings all the time by myself. All through these neighborhoods. That's what I grew up in. I'm not going to lie. I'm not good, I know that. But I know where my heart lies and I know that everybody can change anytime, you know. It's just whether or not you're willing to do so. I'm willing to make mistakes. I'm willing to do damage too. But maybe God's going to turn that around and maybe he's going to say tomorrow, "Quit your *** or else." I have a question for you. Do you have a daughter? Yeah, I do. I have two daughters. Let me tell you what the Lord was showing me. I felt like with one of your daughters you're kind of going through a tough time and you were really worried. And there were some difficult things happening. But I just felt like the Lord was saying that how you feel about her is how he feels about you. And how he cares about you. But also, he's got your daughter's back. And there's a big turning coming for her. One of my daughters is getting out of prison in a couple weeks. She was a bad *** addict. And my daughter who lives with my ex-wife told me I was dead to her. She didn't want anything to do with me. That's been weighing on my heart a lot. Let me pray for that. I grew up without a father and I have to be just as tough as like she's being tough with me. God, I thank you, in the name of Jesus, that right now you would completely rock his heart in such a way where you'd reveal how much you love him. And I also thank you, God, for his daughter, the one who's getting out. I don't know what her name is. What's her name? Samantha. God, I thank you for Samantha. When you said she was getting out, first I saw a dancer. I saw her involved in dance, dancing as a little kid. Just being free, dancing and twirling around. I don't know if she took ballet or something when she was little, but I just saw her dancing and being free. She's a dance instructor in prison. That's crazy. I saw her having her own dance school. And actually bringing people in to the realization of who they really are through dance, prophetic dance. Prophetic dance. But I saw her and that's her real passion. Later, as the guys prayed for another friend of theirs who had come, Robby offered her the opportunity to join in a relationship with God. We could pray with you. You could just repeat after me, if you like. Jesus, I come to you. (repeats) And I give you my life. I ask you to forgive me of all my past. Wash me clean. Come into my heart. Come into my life. Be Lord of my life. Rule in me. We thank you for your presence. And I thank you for offering me new life. And I accept your forgiveness and your new life in Jesus Christ. In Jesus' name. And Lord, I receive your kingdom. Amen. Amen. Sam, I heard you praying, bro. It's the right thing, bro. The right thing. I'm going to tell you guys something. This, today, this will change this city. This will change this city. That's why we're here. Two months later, Sam asked us to meet him at a local park as he had some friends he wanted us to meet. The guy I talked to now was not the same man I had met before. Is there a difference? Of course there's a difference. The differences between my old life and new life is... I didn't give a rat's *** about any life at all. I didn't care. I'd take life. I didn't care and I proved it many times where I grew up. I used to do shooting where I wouldn't even think about it. I would go and unload guns and I didn't care. Just at anybody. I'll shoot at houses, putting holes through houses and I didn't even know who's in the house. I'm unloading on the whole house. I don't want to know. All I know is there's a known guy in there and I want to get him. Yeah, there's a difference. There's a difference. God is powerful. The Spirit, I know, is definitely with me. I feel him every morning. I know because I'm running based up with the Christian music. People are looking at me, Dude, you were just at the bar! I got a guy, he's like, do you have to blast Christian music? I said, you're in my car, right? You're going to listen to it, man. And believe me. I ran, but came right back. I love you Jesus Christ. That's when I know when I'm changed. When I know I come back crying. That's when I knew. That's when I knew that, yes, I love Jesus. Just feeling him, knowing that Spirit's in me... I didn't feel it over here, but when I got this way, closer to him, I felt that. And when you've been alone a long time, you know what that goodness is. And you know when God's acknowledging you and you're in the name of Jesus Christ and you feel that spirit being uplifted. That's when you know and that Spirit is alive. God says he'll send us a Comforter and it's true. There's that Comforter, man. If you're alone, you'll know the Comforter has come. If you're alone, you think nobody cares, that Comforter's going to be there. And you're going to be like, wow. And you're going to be overwhelmed. You're going to love God. While this is going on, Robby is over talking to Sam's friends, who were a little skittish and didn't want to be filmed. But then God rocked them and they came and told me their story, and as they were leaving, they all gave Robby their drugs. One of the dudes here with us surrendered this to me. We're not sure if it's *** or hash but he surrendered it and said he was done with it. So that's... we got two bags of dope right there, baby, for the kingdom of God. For the kingdom of God because that's how our God rolls. Sam is an example of what happens when the Father's light invades a darkened life. And now the Father was getting ready to show me the full weight of his love in action. While we were with Ravi, we drove five hours to this enormous temple. Ravi had told us that morning that God had shown him a man we were supposed to find. He didn't know his name, just what he looked like. White beard, orange robe, with a turban on his head. So we walked. And searched. And looked around. And then... White beard, turban, saffron clothes. What color clothes? Saffron. There he is. Samuel's got him. No freaking way. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It's one thing to read about this stuff happening in, like, the book of Acts, but it's something else entirely when it's happening right in front of you. Who was this person? Why did God tell us to find him? Because a crowd was gathering, the two decided to go to a lower temple for more privacy to talk. Along the way, Ravi explained that this was a Maharishi, which is a guru of gurus--the Hindu equivalent of a bishop. Maharishis are not even allowed to hear the gospel. He should have incited the crowd to stone us. Instead, he wanted to talk more. Why? We found out pretty quick. He saw me and he didn't know where to meet this fellow. No, in the dream. Someone told him to do this. He doesn't know who it is. But then, he says, that is right, that's Yesu, that's Jesus. He saw him in his dreams. Until then, he didn't know who that is. But now he knows that it was Jesus. Think about this. Days ago, this Maharishi has a dream where Jesus appears and tells him to go to this temple on this day and he shows him a picture of Ravi. At the same time, we've been told by God to go to this temple on this day to find a man with a white beard, saffron robes, and a turban on his head. Needless to say, Ravi now has the Maharishi's undivided attention. At this point, a Maharishi becomes a Christian, and he, more than anyone, realizes the holy nature of this moment and he removes his sandals because he is on holy ground. You are staring in the face of a miracle. A man who has searched his whole life for his Father finally finds him. ♪ Music ♪ Good, good, good. Thank you Jesus. Six months later, Ravi visited us in Chicago and gave us an update on how the Maharishi is doing. This guy's gone back and he's talked to his disciples and they've been following Jesus. And he's talked to the followers. People come from everywhere and he's been talking to them. As far as I know, he is well protected by his own people. Obviously he's performing miracles too. Headaches and stomach aches that he's dealing with. That's one thing that's protecting him. That people see the power that he has from God. And they have to believe him. He's been prophesying, it seems. He's been telling things, what's happening tomorrow, in the future. He's giving all the credit to what Jesus did in his life. It seems the Father is trying to speak to all of his children. The real question is: what do we do when he does? The answer to that question: what happens when children actually listen to their father, holds the key to a life fulfilled, and a world transformed. We traveled to China to meet an incredible couple who's lives were radically altered after an encounter with the Father. Their names are Mike and Deena Vant Hul, and Mike joined us for a brief stop in Taiwan to film an enormous gathering that was happening there. Mike and Deena had encountered the Father through this man, Randy Clark, and Mike wanted to see his old friend again. And once more, God reminded me that those who truly seek after Him will encounter his love as well as his power. In Jesus name renew him, refresh him. Fill him afresh with the baptism of love. Baptism of power. God, let him begin to see miracles and not just healings. In the name of Jesus. Creative miracles, Lord. Whoa! He was vice president of a bank and they had a big home and nice cars and just everything. They were nominal; they were lukewarm. They were the last ones in, sat in the back, and the first ones out when service was over. I was preaching in the morning, Sunday morning. I think, I'm not sure. I said something in the order of, if you want to be touched by God, come to the front. I said, come Holy Spirit. People began to fall all over the church. And they fell. When they got up, they were radically changed in that short amount of time the Spirit was on them. Mike came just shortly afterwards and was weeping and told Tom, I can't be vice president of the bank anymore. Even though I would say we were happily married and had a good family and were living a good life, there was still an emptiness that was in us, especially in me, that was not being fulfilled by my Christian walk. We were both raised in Christian families and so We believed the Bible, but we had none of it in our lives and we would say, where's the more? If this is really what it seems to be, where is the fruit? Where is the more? Where's the passion? Where's the love? They say you have to love God. How do you love God? I don't know how to do that. I can accept him and say a prayer, but how do you fall in love with God? And what does that mean? What if you don't feel it? Can you still be a Christian? Can you still...? We would have those conversations and so that night reminds me of the night I met Mike. That's what I... It's the same kind of feeling that I had. It was like meeting Jesus for the first time. What the Lord did on the outside looked innocent enough and casual, but was very deep. So it is hard to describe what happened inside Deena and I There was such an exchange where he took things from me. I didn't deserve the forgiveness and the deliverance, but things were just moved instantly. And just replaced with radical love. Well that radical love would propel them to sell everything and fly to China with their three small children and two suitcases. No plan. Couldn't speak the language. But God told them to go, and they trusted Him. So we just said, if he's asking us to go, then we're just going to go. We sold our house and we gave everything else away. And we just came with clothes. We moved here with our three children. They were eighteen months, five, and eight at the time. You had no house? We had no house. We lived in a hotel for three days and found an apartment. It was very interesting. It had rats and it had raw sewage. We didn't know anything. I remember walking in... Everything up until that point, for me, it was very exciting. Even though there was a lot of sacrifice involved, but even the sacrifices were such a joyful sacrifice, it was like it was all I had to give and I was just so happy to give it. But at that moment, as I stood in the apartment and I watched my... I watched my children come in for the first time and see their new home. I thought, what kind of mother does this to her children? You know, we had a beautiful home and a beautiful family and it hit me, you know, like this is real. You know... This is real. And I saw their little faces and would just try and do the best that they could. And I just thought, oh my goodness. What have I done? What they had done was put their lives completely in their Father's hands, and either He would have to come through for them, or they were in big trouble. But then Deena forged a relationship with some of the local orphanages, and miracles began to happen, and doors were opened for them that never should have opened, and they began to receive children from these orphanages that no one else wanted. Which, in just a short time, has led to this... Welcome to the home that love built. With hardly any regular funding and month to month financial miracles, Mike and Deena care for lame, blind, and mostly unadoptable children through their ministry, Loaves and Fishes. They give them an education, care for them, and pour out as much love as they physically can on children no one else deems worthy of love. These children are us. Broken, unwanted, overlooked people. But the Father shines through two people, and suddenly the child's purpose is made clear. All that is expected of these kids is that they receive the love lavished upon them. Here is just one example of the more than 40 children Mike and Deena care for. This little boy was kidnapped from his parents and shipped into the country in a box for three days. The lack of oxygen gave him permanent brain damage. With him, we feel really honored to have him. We always think, what if our child was stolen? We know and have heard of so many stories of people who've had their children stolen from them. What would we want? Of course we would want to find them, but if we couldn't find them, we would want somebody to honor them, to love them, to care for them. We count it a great privilege to take care of him in the place of his family. When I asked Deena why she does this for children who won't be able to give anything back, I received an education as well... We believe that God is the giver of life. And that if he chose for a life to be created, that there's purpose in the life. These children have taught us more than probably the greatest teachers and preachers of our time about love. God has used them to change the way that we think, the way that we feel. And we're happy. And holding them I feel God's presence. And holding them I feel his pleasure. And holding them and loving them, even when they die in my arms, I feel his grace. Why would he choose us to do this? I don't know. But there's this knowing that we're in the center of his will for our lives. And we know that we are only a piece of the puzzle. We're one piece of this amazing puzzle that he's created and we just want to do our part well. "Even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you." We live in a dark world, an often evil place where pain and loss overshadow every corner of the earth. And the only way you can get rid of darkness, I was beginning to learn, is to turn on the light. While we were in India, for instance, our old friend from Furious Love, Shanti, took us up to the tea fields of Northern India, to a rock quarry that is a breathtaking example of modern slavery and forced child labor. Entire families are forced to crush and haul rocks, day in and day out, for their entire lives. They have three weeks to fill up one of these trucks, and for their efforts the entire family receives the equivalent of $24 US dollars. And who is the biggest contractor for this human rights violation? The Indian government. Shanti has tried her best to help giving as many kids as she can an education and a hope for a better future, but by educating one child, she deprives a family of another set of hands needed to meet their quota. When we were there, she was able to get two more children to her school, but the sea of hopelessness extends far beyond her reach. She is just one woman burning bright in a world of darkness. These rock quarries are scattered all over India, and the situation is the same or worse in all of them. The darkness is overwhelming, but through his kids, God's light continues to shine. Along the way, we met Gora and Bir. Gora is lame, and Bir is blind. These two travel from village to village preaching about what God's love has done for them, and to do so, Gora steers the bike while Bir pedals. They simply can't help themselves from preaching the gospel. Or Kaderum here, who is bringing the healing power of Jesus to so many people, that local witch doctors sent elephants to destroy his house. He was ruining their business. When the elephants got to his home, they turned, and destroyed the witch doctors' houses instead. Then we met Majed el Shafie. His story is like a James Bond film. An Egyptian by birth, he was tortured for seven days by radical muslims, and is one of the few people alive today who has been crucified for his faith. He was able to escape by living with a Bedouin family in the mountains for two months, then stole a jet ski on which he slipped past security checkpoints before finding asylum with the only country who would take him. Israel. Majed runs an organization called One Free World International. He often confronts governments who are allowing Christians to be persecuted under their rule, and he has successfully smuggled out and reunited hundreds of families who were being targeted for persecution by radical Muslims in the Middle East. We talked to some of these people: from Iraq, and Egypt, and Pakistan. And even in the midst of their torture, God's love was real. Take Rami for instance. He was burned with cigarettes and fire, his toenails were ripped off, his testicles were electrocuted, but even then, the light of the world drove away his darkness. Like, you saw it like you had a vision? So as they were burning you, you felt his presence. You felt him as if he was hugging you. Yet we are the children of the light, and wherever we go a great light shines forth. I saw this on full display when I went to end my journey in Israel, the place God chose to reside when he lived among us. This is where everything finally clicked for me, where an impossible act showed me the greatest possibility of all. We went with a friend of mine named Todd White. Todd is one radical dude, and he has absolutely no fear when it comes to praying for and loving others. A former drug addict who was radically saved, Todd now lives with one, laser-like goal: to love as many people into the kingdom as he can. Our agenda in going to Israel was simple: we didn't have one. I felt God wanted me to end this series here, so we went on blind faith that God would show us what to do. One of our stops took us to Capernum, which also happened to be the home base of Jesus' ministry 2000 years ago. I guess it should come as no surprise, then, that God's power was on full display not 100 yards from where Jesus spent most of his time. We noticed a man with a cane who could barely walk, and we asked him if we could pray for him. He agreed, so we stood at the gates to Jesus' home base, and asked Jesus to show up. Jesus, we thank you for complete wholeness. Father, I thank you for grace. In Jesus' name, all the pain we command to go. Father, thank you for a brand new back, in Jesus' name. God, thank you that today is the last day of this pain. In Jesus' name. God, today. The end. Right now. In Jesus' name. God, I thank you for grace. God, I ask you for great increase, in Jesus' name. And as Todd prayed, Jesus, ever faithful, came to this man, and he wept as he experienced the very God of heaven. ♪ Music ♪ Amen. Sorry to keep you so much. I love you. Bless you. Actually, they are waiting. Thank you, thank you. Do me a favor, I need you to try to walk without your cane. I believe today you going to see that this is going to continue to grow stronger and stronger. You're going to see great grace today. It's good? Yes. How long has it been since you were able to walk like that? For 23 years. For 23 years you haven't been able to walk like that? 23 years. Oh, God, this is so good. This is good. 23 years. That's so long, a long time. This is good. Jesus is restoring your hips and your back and everything. This is good. Bless you. My son. Yeah, I will be your son. While this had been going on, a tour guide stood off to the side watching it all. Right after the man was healed, the tour guide approached Todd with a question. I just want to pray for you. How is your heart? Let's do it. What's your name? Watch. Don't say anything.I feel like the last six months have been a really trying time in your life. I feel like... The last six months have been a really trying time in your life, it's been a real struggle. So Todd gave him a word from his Father, and then he prayed for him. In Jesus' name. Grace. Amen. I love you, man. Did that make sense to you? You are amazing. It is the truth. He was so touched by what had just happened to him, he began telling others what he had seen. He hasn't walked for 23 years. This was a Muslim man furthering the gospel of Jesus at the gates of Capernum! The first thing that needs to happen is you've got to realize that it's not about you feeling God. A lot of times I've got to feel a tingly or my hands have to get warm. That's awesome if that happens, but God says walk by faith. It says that, these signs will follow those that believe. He didn't say it has to be a special gifting. John 14:12, Jesus said, he who believes in me, the same things I do, he's going to do. That's pretty amazing. And then he steps it up and says, even greater. So you see that in the word. In Mark 16 it says it. It says, pray for the sick, lay hands on the sick. In order for the sick to be healed, you first have to lay your hands on them. When we headed to Jerusalem, I asked God to do something impossible, something that only He could do. Get me into the Dome of the Rock: the second holiest site in Islam, and a mosque that has been totally off limits to non-Muslims since 2003. We had no idea how to do this, we had no contacts, and God had only 24 hours to make this happen. My main reason for wanting to go was simply for the world to see for themselves the God of the impossible. We arrived in Jerusalem and immediately hit the streets looking for people to love. The first person we met was this guy, who was walking with a pretty severe limp. Todd jumped right in. What is your name? My name is Todd. I know how to make your pain go away. Yeah? Just sit right here. Just for a minute. Sit back the whole way with your butt back. Feet. This. Look. See this leg? It's long. This is short, you see? Watch. Father, I thank you right now. In Jesus' name, left leg grow. Do you feel? Do you feel it coming out? Yes. Look. It's good. Do you feel it in this leg? You feel the pain going away right now? Watch. Father, I thank you in Jesus' name. Every bit of pain I command you to get out right now. Get out. Discs be healed right now in Jesus name. Stand up. Bend. Check. It's good? Yeah. Really? Gone. All gone. All gone. Check. Any pain? It's good? Gone? No you're not dreaming. Walk with me and tell me if it's gone. Come on. You know I watched you walk. There's no pain. It's gone. Jesus just gave you new discs in your back. You had two discs that were bad. Brand new discs right now. Because Jesus lives inside of me so I pray and he touches you. Thank you. Thank you very much. What is... How do I say your name? Shahin. S-H-A-H-I-N That's amazing. Are you Muslim? Yes. I'm Christian and I just want to tell you that I love you. All of my heart. Thank you very, very, very, very much. Peace be with you. Peace be with you. Bless you. Enjoy your new back. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you, thank you. Thank you for your time. Look, it's good. Thank you for your time also. Love you. Bless you, brother. Goodbye. That was pretty amazing. He said I'm a Muslim. No. Jesus is the Son of God. Look at him walking. Look at him walking down the steps, right now. No pain at all. Did you see him walking when he was... He was like this. He was walking like... ah my goodness. Did you see how fast... Did you see him walking when he was coming up? He was like... He was walking like this. He said, am I dreaming? I'm dreaming! ♪ Music ♪ Well that was a good start. So we kept going, and we entered the Muslim quarter of old Jerusalem, and Todd began praying for people, and they started to get healed left and right. So they brought others up to us, and soon a crowd had gathered. I want to be known as somebody that loves, somebody that's passionate. It's about compassion. It's about the passionate love heart of God for people. We've got to stop trying to manipulate people, maneuver them, and pray in our prayer. And start to just become love. Not pointing out the trash, but pulling out the goodness that people are. Come on. We've been given the ministry of reconciliation Not imputing the world's trespasses against them. Come on. But reconciling people back to the Father. That's the ministry that we have. If people can't see Christ in you, they don't want what you have, bro. Word was spreading in the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem, and for nearly an hour we prayed for Muslims. Towards the end, a man approached us. We're not going to make it to the bottom of the hill. You know that, right? Hello? Hello. How are you? Good. You are healthy? Yes. I'm healthy. Not sick? In your chest? In your lungs? In your heart? No problems? No problems... Are you a healing man? Got this gift? Yes, I have this in me. I want to pray. Any problems? Am I on this picture? It's pictures, yes. We're doing a picture. Come. Where are you from? From Pennsylvania. First time in Israel? Second time. Are you Christian? I am. You are? Good. Me too, yes. It's amazing, yes? That is good! I want you to bless my home. I want to bless your home. This is where you live? Yes. Via Dolorosa. How did you get to live in Via Dolorosa. It's the way of Christ. The Lord Jesus suffered here. Here. Here, my brother. It's a blessing for you, for your camera. Something new. Hello! He's hurt? He's hurt. Yes. He's sick. Very sick. It's his chest? He has a heart problem? And his lungs? Yes. That's what I heard out there. Chest and lungs. I must pray for him to be healed. Is it cancer? What is it? No it's not cancer. His heart is only working at 20%. He can't make an operation and he's also Christian. He is my father-in-law. Yes. I want to pray. Does he understand? He doesn't understand. I will translate. So Todd prayed, and then he asked how the man was feeling. He has a little bit of pain? Point to pain. Tell him to touch it. Get out. In Jesus' name. Jesus. Jesus. Father, I thank you for wholeness in Jesus name. Right now. No more pain. No more heart problems. Wholeness in Jesus' name. Ask. See. Good? Yes. I love you. Can he walk? He can stand. He's okay walking? Ask him if his ankles feel better. Feels better. As we were leaving, I asked him if he knew of any way we could get into the Dome of the Rock. He said it was impossible. I said yeah, that's what everyone keeps telling me. But how can I get in? Then he looked at me, studied me, and said we blessed him, now he wants to bless us. His best friend, he said, knows everyone who works at the Dome. If there was one person in Jerusalem who might be able to get us in, it was this guy. Would we like to meet him? Yes please. Then let's go. So we walked for 20 minutes through the winding streets of old Jerusalem, until we came to a courtyard, and this man called out to his friend. And the God of the impossible answered me. ♪ Music ♪ So we sat with him, told him what we wanted to do, and he told us to be back tomorrow at 10. The next morning we met outside the gate, then made our way to the Dome. As I stood outside this building, which once was the spot where Abraham almost sacrificed his son, Isaac, where the ark of the covenant used to reside, and where Muslims believe Muhammed ascended into heaven, I realized that we were about to do the impossible because God had made it possible. We were not here by force, we were here through simple acts of love. So we went in, during the call to prayer no less, and I realized that God had done the impossible to teach me, all of us, a lesson. For God, this was easy. The most impossible thing is that we, with our dirty faces and broken hearts, could have a love affair with the God of the universe, no matter who we are or what we've done. This was where the ark of the covenant resided, the holy of holies, and it was in this very spot that God tore the veil that kept us from His heart at the moment Jesus died. And then, amazingly, our guide turned to us and asked if we'd like to go into the Well of Souls. And we entered into the foundation of the holy of holies, where God's presence used to reside, and the light of the world was lifted up in the very spot he once called home. Nearly 3,000 years ago, Isaiah wrote this, “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, "Here I am, here I am." In Jesus' name, God we release your presence here. Your presence would stay, your presence would be here. There's absolutely nothing stronger than Jesus. We thank you God, right now. Father, I thank you. God, we release your presence. Holy God. Your presence, God. Your presence. Father, we thank you. In Jesus name, we release your presence right now. Come Holy Spirit, dominate this place. Dominate this place, God. In Jesus' name. Especially Americans. Don't boast about having great faith. Don't judge other faiths. I believe Jesus is the only way, the truth, and the life. I will not try to be politically correct. Simple. The line has been drawn in the sand. Jesus is the only way. I'm ready to die for this statement. But then, how you convey the way, is only through love. These Muslims were radically touched and got completely rocked. I believe the Holy Ghost is a big boy. And he's well able to accomplish the task, man. Anybody can do this thing. I'm seven years old in God. All I know is that Jesus said you're either for me or against me. You gather or you scatter. I think we need to be the light of the world. Step back out there, not in a rude way, but in a relevant way to people. Ask God to use you wherever you go. Encourage someone. He saw the light of the Father on our faces, and that light changed him. If God is the Father of Lights, and Jesus is the light of the world, then we carry that light wherever we go. But first we must be found by him, first we must experience him, and first we must understand who we truly are. You're loved. You're loved. You are God's beloved and he is well pleased with you. You're God's beloved son and he's well pleased with you. You're God's beloved daughter and he's so pleased with you. You're a child of God. God is good. He's extremely good. Everyone wants a king like Jesus. If we'll represent him well, they'll want his body too. And when I stand up to preach the gospel, I often preach to people who have no idea who God is because they worship idols. Very terrible idols. They spread the table for their gods. And I tell them that the Christian God does it the other way around. He spreads the table for his children. And in the other religions, People always seek God. In the Christian faith, God seeks man. Nothing else brought this picture of a Father awaiting his children like a moment we witnessed when we visited Majed el Shafie. This family had been separated from their son and brother for 7 years, and today he was being smuggled out from Pakistan. They had been persecuted for their faith, with radicals even trying to cut out the son's tattoo of a cross on his arm. Their reality is also our reality. We too have been separated from our Father, held prisoner by the evil all around us. We have been beaten, abandoned, and we search for some ray of happiness, search to fill the hole inside our hearts with something, anything, that will bring peace. And the Father waits, arms outstretched, just waiting for us to come home to him. He's taken care of it all, and we simply need to embrace him. He fights for us, even if no one else will. He lays down everything, gives up everything, for one, singular obsession. There are 7 billion people in this world, but today, right now, right at this moment, a Father has found his child. And that child, is you. ♪ Music ♪ Father of Lights