by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D. and friends

“The Color Line Was Washed Away in the Blood”

I want to share a testimony of what God poured out here in Charlottesville, Virginia this past week at the Writing in the Glory and Women’s Abide Conference I was a part of. Saturday afternoon November 10, 2018, I was ministering on a fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit and felt led to release a little of the Azusa Street Revival story along with some slides so people could see some of the main characters, including William J. Seymour. As we went into the session, deep worship and prophetic dance preceded my time of sharing and the music continued into the session. I shared an encounter Carrie Judd Montgomery had, then Ezekiel 47 and along with an invitation to dive into more of the Spirit. Then I shared about Peter stepping out of the boat yet another time in John 21 and how it doesn’t matter how many times we’ve previously encountered God or if we’ve already been baptized in the Holy Spirit, but there’s even more today than there was yesterday. After sharing some personal stories of not being afraid to use the voice God’s given and encourage others to be the unique gift He’s called them to, we waited upon the Lord for a fresh baptism of His love. As people came forward to the altar and began to get touched, I stepped out to bless what I recognized God was doing in the room.

In a mainly white crowd at this women’s conference, when I looked at the room, I saw that God was especially moving in the handful of African Americans in the room. Everyone I was drawn to pray for who I recognized the Spirit of God on in a powerful way happened to be African American. Then I took a step back and asked the Holy Spirit what was going on. Since that was the group highlighted to me, by the grace of God, I took a leap of faith and stood out on a limb doing something I’ve never done before. I called all of the African Americans to the front and the 8-9 of them came forward. I shared that I saw God was doing something special with them that day and He wanted to honor them, and also welcome their voice. I then held out my hand with the microphone for whoever of them wanted to speak. It was their floor. One of by one, some with tears, they shared their hearts while all the others in the room gathered around them up close in a circle together. It was a holy and prophetic moment that the Holy Spirit orchestrated.

Because I’ve been in such crazy transition in my personal life, I didn’t have time to research the city I was going to beforehand. I actually first thought I was going to Charlotte, North Carolina and told everyone I was going to be there until the conference director told me I had the wrong state and I was going to Charlottesville, Virginia. It was not until after God poured out His Spirit in a special way upon us that afternoon that I began to hear the story of the horrific thing that had happened in this very town a year ago. This was the place where a group of white supremacists marched in, even carrying torches and chanting horrible demonic things on August 11 and 12 of 2017. The event was called “Unite the Right” in Charlottesville, Virginia. During a rally, a white supremacist drove his car through a group of non-violent counter protesters where he killed a woman and injured many others. You can learn more about what happened HERE (warning, graphic images).

When I started to discover the significance of where God had sent me, I was in awe of how God moved that afternoon and my heart was broken for what all of these precious people had to endure when evil came in and targeted their city one year ago. With this new revelation, it felt to me that what had happened at the conference Saturday afternoon was even more significant that I realized at the time. I recognized it as one of those defining moments that I will never forget where God comes and moves in a special, tender, and prophetic way. I believe that what the Holy Spirit orchestrated was a seed not only for what He wants to pour out in that city and region but for our nation as well.

I believe that God has a great plan for Charlottesville because in my own experience of knowing the history of Destiny House, I know that whenever great evil is attracted to a place it’s because it’s a well of revival and there is great glory and inheritance in that place. I am confident that God is going to heal, restore and redeem what’s been stolen from this land and my prayer is that the greatest spirit of unity this world has ever seen will flow from this land of destiny.

This was a slide I released about the Azusa Street Revival that same day when I was speaking.

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 Stepping Out of the Boat: Extending my Time in Virginia

Later that evening, the night before I was to fly out, a couple of the lovely ladies from the conference came up to me and invited me to stay longer and welcomed me into their homes. Because of how God had moved that afternoon, I smelled revival. I felt the Holy Spirit doing something big in this region from all that He had been pouring out. I decided that I didn’t want to miss what He might have. I didn’t have much time to make a decision since I had already checked into my flight the next day but I was able to change my flight. Staying there meant canceling a week of activities. I struggled with doubt the first two days because I was delaying seeing people I loved in Redding and having to cancel teaching at the school of ministry which I committed to and so enjoy. Finally after much prayer with precious friends, I was able to embrace what God had placed in front of me and dove in as I counted the cost of saying yes to the tiny seed of what I thought might be the Lord. As a result of staying, we got to do another revival meeting and also open it up to the men to come along where God moved in power. I released the Azusa story in full and there was a mighty baptism of fire released where lives were marked by God’s presence. 

Making the decision to stay ties into the new shift in my life of helping to raise up pioneers. I find it interesting that these recent invitations to step out of the boat into unknown territory are happening at the same time that I am about ready to release my Walking on Water Encounter E-course as the first course in the online School of Pioneering Revival. See video below. Me pioneering into new territories makes sense and is important if I am going to help inspire and encourage others to step out of the boat. So this extended week was yet again, another one of those moments of stepping out of the boat and trusting the Lord.

The coolest thing is that when I chose to extend my time in Maui and rest before stepping into this clear yes in Virginia, I said no to a lot of opportunities that also would have provided for me financially. This conference in Virginia I sold out of all my books and I had triple the number of Writing in the Glory attendees I normally have. God totally covered and blessed me by providing for my season of rest. Entering into this huge “yes” fully rested was one of the best decisions and I’m so grateful for all God poured out during my time intersecting with this beautiful community.

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Revival Meeting: The Significance of 11-16

Since I had extended my trip, we were able to plan a region wide revival meeting where we could also invite the men to come along. The date was set for November 16, 2018 (11/16/2018). That evening, I shared a testimony of what happened to me on this same date on November 16, 2007 not long after I had first moved to England. I went to a church with a friend and was marked by the Holy Spirit. Before this time, I had become obsessed with the theme of Spirit baptism and had begun asking my friends about their experiences and was interested to learn more about it, especially as it was at the heartbeat of the Azusa Street Revival, which I was then studying in my Ph.D. there at the time. When I got home from the meeting that night 11 years ago, I was in awe of how the Spirit had marked me and as I prepared to set my alarm and turn off my phone for the night, I looked and it said 11/16 for the date at 11:16pm. I opened up the book of Acts 11:16 to see if God might be speaking. That verse was the only red letters on the page where it was recalled that Jesus said, “John baptized you with water but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” I was in shock and so rocked by how specifically God spoke that night. It was amazing (to read the whole account see Spirit Flood).  

Because there’s so much momentum on that date in history and because I was releasing the story of the Azusa Street Revival that same night year later, I opened the meeting by sharing that testimony. As I continued to share the Azusa story, I released a prayer by eyewitness at Azusa, Frank Bartleman, about how the Heroes will arise from the dust of obscure circumstances. As I read the prayer over people, I hadn't noticed the extra significance of it until a couple came up to me at the end of the evening and asked if I had realized that the date he released that prayer which was noted on my power point was November 16, 1905. The very same date of that day except 113 years earlier! Jesus!!! How amazing is that! Unexpected and amazing how God speaks and moves even in the details.

Many lives were touched this past week in Virginia including a couple who is going to plant a worshipping community in Richmond as a result of what God did, another being awakening and introduced to the power of the Holy Spirit for the first time in her life, reconciliation between family, heart healing, voices unlocked, shifting into a new season, and an awakening of burning ones who re-consecrated their lives to be sold out for Jesus. Thanks to everyone who prayed, offered grace when I didn’t return back to Redding when planned, those who invited and welcomed me to stay, rearranged their Sunday church meeting to have me speak, and Joan Hutter for hearing from the Holy Spirit to invite me and Amy Lancaster to come out to Virginia for such a time as this. So blessed. May a new fire be ignited in you today, filled with His fiery love!

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Testimony: The Simplicity of One Yes

Here is a beautiful testimony by Kim Hager about her time at the Writing in the Glory, Women’s Abide, and other revival meetings that happened in Charlottesville, Virginia this week November 9-18, 2018

One persons “yes” has every potential to be another person’s breakthrough. I both experienced and witnessed this in substantial ways with Dr. Jennifer Miskov’s visit to Charlottesville, Va.  Her “yes” to the Lord to come to Virginia launched a chain reaction of breakthroughs this week in so many lives and without a doubt countless more to follow.  As for me personally, I was suddenly launched into a brand new life season. 

Ministering at Restoration Cornerstone church with Kim releasing worship on the keyboard in the back.

I had been wrestling to fully get up out from underneath the clutter of busyness in ministry and the rubble of a difficult past season. In the process, some of who I am and how I was made to be had begun to dry up. I knew the Lord was positioning me for a season of writing and so I attended the “Writing in the Glory” workshop. I expected to gain a helpful resource but I did not know I would get swept up into such a move of God in the process. The authority of Jen’s message, lifestyle, and testimony literally was a prophetic wind of God to breathe life into the dry places in my destiny.  

As she faithfully released what she was carrying in her spirit, an impartation came. Her ministry was the hand of Jesus pulling me up out of the clutter and rubble of my past season and setting my feet in the broad place of my now, new season. Jen was the prophetic voice that re-awakened the dreamer and adventurer in me and called me out into the very season of deeper intimacy and fruitfulness that I am now walking into. Praise God!

I was also given the honor to lead worship and help facilitate ministry times during Jen’s stay for later meetings (some of them unplanned but divinely orchestrated).  Having been under Jen’s messaging, I was instilled with a newfound courage to step out which resulted in me giving voice to a vulnerable part of my testimony during worship that I had never shared publicly before. As a result, lives on the precipice of darkness were brought into the healing breakthrough of Jesus and hope and strength for endurance was released. I also found faith and courage to allow the Lord to re-arrange my schedule to stay with the move of God that was being released among us.

Jen took the time to lovingly yet boldly challenge me to respond based on my new season not my old one. Throughout her time here we witnessed powerful moments of God as people were baptized in His Spirit, filled with fresh faith, received emotional healing, surrendered their whole hearts to Jesus, and stepped out into new things in God. We participated in the awakening rumblings of racial reconciliation and watched the Lord awaken dreams and destiny in His people. What a great and unexpected week its been! 
I am undone with gratitude for the goodness and kindness of the Lord in what He has done here through Jen’s “yes” to him and her love for us. Thank you Jennifer Miskov for being willing and obedient to come to Virginia. You have an inheritance with Jesus here.

*Check out some of Kim’s anointed worship music HERE

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Testimony: “You Want Me to be a Catcher?” And an Invitation to a Deeper Experience in the Holy Spirit

Testimony by Emily who was already an answer to prayer for me because she helped run my book table and all the books even sold out! May God bring you to deeper depths of His Spirit as you read her account of what God did this week.

What a week. I feel like I was thrust into this new world when Joan Hutter, the director of Women’s Abide conference looked at me and said, “You’ll be a catcher.” I thought, “how did she know I’m a great catcher? Wait, what am I catching?” It was a whirlwind of praying in tongues, people passing out, loud laughter and uncontrolled sobbing. How can so many things be happening all at once? I just knew I wanted to know more about this.

We’ve been studying Romans as a church and for months I’ve been anticipating Romans 8. I desperately want to know what it means to be walking in the Spirit. This conference came at a perfect time when my heart was already positioned to be looking for life in the Spirit...even though I was really only there because my boss asked me to help out at the conference with the logistics and such. I kept that as my excuse to not enter in. “I’m really just here for work.”

I mostly observed during the worship services; watching some women dance in one corner and others grab banners and twist them around like they were doing work. Women were face down on the ground while others kneeled at their chairs. This worship seemed intentional; like these women had praise and adoration to bring to the Lord and they were going to use their whole body to do it. How is there a whole community of believers coming together to worship and I feel like an outsider, like these were not my people?

I’m so thankful the Lord brought Jen to guide and help me through what was going on and to graciously answer my questions. There were a lot. To be clear, I have heard of the term “baptism in the Holy Spirit” but I had no concept of what it is in real life.

For a few days I asked questions, searched scriptures and read Jen’s book on Spirit baptism called Spirit Flood, and then Tuesday night things got weird. I had dinner at the house where Jen was staying with Nicole, and after asking a few rounds of questions from me along with some vulnerable moments exploring what was hindering me from moving forward, Jen asked if she and Nicole could pray over me. I’m not sure that I even know what happened. I am still praying about it and seeking understanding. But as they prayed over me and we took time to wait on the Lord there was something like a very heavy blanket that covered me. I looked at Jen so confused about why I was so heavy. She encouraged me to lay down and to take note of pictures and words that came to mind as this was an important time of hearing from the Lord. I laid down and almost immediately I heard the Lord say to me, “You’re clean, Emily. You’ve been washed clean.’”

This moment has changed me. Not because of some physical experience - while that is something to look into and explore with the Lord - it changed me because after years of knowing that I’m saved and that I’m covered by the blood, it was like I actually knew it and believed it for the first time. I’m actually clean!

For the past week now, I’ve been borderline obsessed with what it means to walk in the Spirit, to worship in the Spirit and to live in the Spirit. I want to spend time with the Lord, abiding in Him. What if He has more to say? What if He has more to make clear to me or has things that only He can help move from my head knowledge to my heart understanding? And more importantly, does everyone else know that they can be washed by His blood too and walk in the freedom He’s given us?

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Radio Interview

When I first arrived in Virginia, I had the opportunity to be on Jeff Gaffney’s radio show where I share some of my personal story and encourage people with hope. Enjoy these raw moments below and thanks for being a part of my journey today!

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“Heroes Will Arise from the Dust”

I close with the prayer that Frank Bartleman released on November 16, 1905, just months before revival broke out in Los Angeles at the Azusa Street Revival which later spread across the globe. I declare over Virginia, over California with all of the wild fires, and over our nation that God would pour out His Spirit of revival again in our day.

“The current of revival is sweeping by our door. Will we cast ourselves on its mighty bosom and ride to glorious victory? A year of life at this time, with its wonderful possibilities for God, is worth a hundred years of ordinary life.

“Pentecost” is knocking at our doors. The revival for our country is no longer a question. Slowly but surely the tide has been rising until in the very near future we believe for a deluge of salvation that will sweep all before it. Wales will not long stand alone in this glorious triumph for our Christ. The spirit of reviving is coming upon us, driven by the breath of God, the Holy Ghost. The clouds are gathering rapidly, big with a mighty rain, whose precipitation lingers but a little.

Heroes will arise from the dust of obscure and despised circumstances, whose names will be emblazoned on Heaven’s eternal page of fame.

The Spirit is brooding over our land again as at creation’s dawn, and the fiat of God goes forth. “Let there be light.” Brother, sister, if we all believed God can you realize what would happen? Many of us here are living for nothing else. A volume of believing prayer is ascending to the throne night and day.

Los Angeles, Southern California, and the whole continent shall surely find itself ere long in the throes of a mighty revival, by the Spirit and power of God.”

-Frank Bartleman November 16, 1905

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Key Resources

If you would like to learn more about some of the topics mentioned above, see these resources.

by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D.

The Shift is now

Did you know that October 31 is a day of Reformation, Revival, and Destiny? Contrary to popular views, October 31st is not the “day of the devil.” It is God’s day full of inheritance where He birthed two major Reformation and Revival movements that are still impacting us today, hundreds of years later. There is great momentum for us to step into on this significant day in revival history. October 31st is a time for revolutionary shifts to happen. It is a day pregnant with world-changing movements waiting to be catalyzed as we fiercely follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, even in unusual ways. It is a day of religious freedom and of freedom from the religious spirit. It is a day when God is waiting for His yielded lovers to pursue His heart with reckless abandonment.

Halloween Roots

It is interesting that even in secular tradition, many believe that October 31st is the time when the physical and spiritual worlds are the closest, when heaven invades earth in a greater measure than on other days. This was also a time of celebrating the end of harvest and the beginning of winter. In the year 609, Pope Gregory III introduced May 13 as a Catholic holiday to honor saints and martyrs who came before. This was called All Saints' or All Hallows Day. In 835, the date was changed to Nov. 1, the same day as the Samhain, which was an Ancient Celtic pagan festival initiating summer's end. The evening before “All Hallows Day” became known as All Hallows' Eve, which was later changed to Halloween. Even more importantly, this day was set apart from Heaven as the day God wanted to catalyze significant Reformation and Revival movements.

Reformation

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther (1483-1546) posted his 95 Theses on Wittenberg Church door which lit a flame that reformed the Christianity of his day, breaking people out of religious cycles that had entrapped them for hundreds of years.

His 95 Theses were then translated into German, printed on the newly invented Gutenberg printing press, and then quickly began to spread. Originally, this was simply an act of inviting people to debate over these issues within the Catholic Church, rather than a rebuke against the pope. However, God breathed on his declaration for justice and it served to be the catalyst to set things in motion for the Protestant Reformation.

Welsh Revival

Nearly 400 years later on this same date in history, a spark for the Welsh Revival was ignited. On October 31, 1904, Evan Roberts (1878-1951) followed the leading of the Holy Spirit back to his hometown to conduct a catalytic meeting where 17 confessed Christ. He realized at that time that the revival he had been praying his whole life for had arrived. Less than four months later, over 80,000 people were saved and the nation of Wales experienced a powerful revival. From Wales, the revival began to spread to cities in England, Scotland, and Ireland and then around the world.

The revival was also a precursor and believed to be a catalyst for future Holy Spirit movements like the Azusa Street Revival. Frank Bartleman, who participated in and scribed the happenings of the Azusa Street Revival, asked Roberts to pray that a revival fire similar to the Welsh Revival would break out in Los Angeles. The Azusa Street Revival exploded to the scene not long after this in 1906 contributing to the influence of Pentecostalism around the globe.

Momentum of the Ages

The Protestant Reformation transformed a religious system and freed people to worship God in spirit and in truth. The Welsh Revival ignited a flame that inspired and gave birth to future Holy Spirit movements. October 31 is pregnant with potential to once again be a powerful day of ignition for reformation and revival. There is an inheritance waiting to be tapped into for those who are brave enough to step out in faith to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit on this special date in history. There is a deep well of revival to be accessed on October 31st, filled with fresh flames waiting to be ignited and spread around the world.

The momentum has already begun. Martin Luther, the Moravians, John Wesley, Evan Roberts and many others have already paved the way for us to walk in great freedom today. This is not a new wave of revival but one that has been building for generations. There is great momentum toward a new billion-soul harvest, another great awakening, and new wave of revival on the horizon. And in fact, I believe it has already begun and is all around us for those who have eyes to see.

What are we going to do today with the ground already gained on our behalf? How will we position ourselves to build upon the momentum that has gone before us? What further ground needs to be taken to advance God’s Kingdom in our generation today so that it will set things in motion for the next 500 years ahead? We are in a historic shift. God is calling us to a new level of holiness, consecration, connection, surrender, and possession of the Holy Spirit. This is necessary so that this upcoming wave of revival will not crush us. It’s time to walk in purity, passion, and total obedience so that when the swell comes, we are positioned to ride the biggest wave of revival this world has ever seen!

Activating the Anointing in October 31st through Worship

Since 2012, the Destiny House tribe of worshippers has hosted an encounter night each year on Halloween to tap into the deep wells of revival, seek God for an even greater Reformation in our day, and worship Him with all of our strength. Last year there were celebrations in Redding, CA, in Australia, and in Maui, Hawaii where we gathered together to worship and proclaim the name of Jesus. We have seen people radically encountered by the presence and power of God in these meetings where they were marked for life in His presence. We will also be doing this together this year in 2020 around the world with the School of Revival family. Learn more on how to join us here.

Wherever you are in the world, I encourage you too, to gather with friends this October 31st to share Holy Ghost stories, pray and worship together on this significant day in revival history. Let’s gather together with one agenda, simply to worship Jesus and lift up His name on high. Together, we can tap into what God wants to do in our day by giving Him higher praise. Let's take back this significant day in history by releasing the fragrance of worship that pleases the heart of God, causing the darkness to tremble.

Send the Spirit Now

Evan Roberts sent on a prayer ahead of him to the children in the towns he was going to visit. When the children prayed this prayer, revival broke out before he even arrived to the scene. As you pray this catalytic prayer and take risks to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit into new territories, may you see the Holy Spirit move in greater ways than ever before.

Send the Spirit now, for Jesus Christ's sake.

Send the Spirit now powerfully, for Jesus Christ's sake.

Send the Spirit now more powerfully, for Jesus Christ's sake.

Send the Spirit now still more powerfully, for Jesus Christ's sake. 

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Join us for one of our upcoming School of Revival modules

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To go more in depth on significance of what happened on this day in history, see

• How October 31st is a Catalytic Day for Reformation, Revival, and Destiny: Extended Version

• Reformation Fire: Why the 500 Year Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation is Significant for us Today

• Tapping into the Power of the Testimony: Launching into Greater Destiny

•  Defining Moments by Bill Johnson and Jennifer A. Miskov (New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 2016).

• Ignite Azusa: Positioning for a New Jesus Revolution by Jennifer A. Miskov with Heidi Baker, Bill Johnson, and Lou Engle (Redding, CA: Silver to Gold, 2016).

*As a disclaimer, we also want to recognize and honor our Catholic brothers and sisters today and celebrate the whole Body of Christ as we move forward together, hand in hand to see God’s Kingdom come here on earth in our day.

Not sure what’s next, but learning how to transition well. God is our home and our safe place always (Psalm 91).

by Jennifer A. Miskov, PhD on location in Maui

I know a lot of us are in major transition in our lives. Whether it’s recovering from the Redding fires or transitioning back to your home country, or moving out of where you once lived into a new community, graduating school and entering into “real life”, letting go of your job to pursue your dreams, or processing the past season. 

I am currently in transition as well, and hanging on tight to God for whatever is next. I find myself letting go, processing the past, and learning to celebrate and grieve what once was so that I am able to position myself to receive what He is preparing next. I’m doing my best to lean into Him, and moving where the Spirit leads, literally one step at a time. I was reminded the other day by a precious one that the last time I was in a similar major transition, was “homeless,” and not exactly sure what was next that God birthed Destiny House. That was nearly seven years ago. And what an incredible journey it’s been along the way where God has added to my spiritual family in such a sweet way. 

The good news about transition is that it's temporary. This awkward season of shifting from one way of life to a new one soon shall pass. Many times transition is an uncomfortable growing pain because we are growing taller and about to step into more. What once fit us no longer does because God is about to give us new shoes that we will need to traverse on new territory for a new season.

If you are currently in the midst of a transition, I encourage you to think of a time in the past where you were in a similar season and recall what came next. God is so faithful and always has been. He will get you to where you need to be as you seek His face above all else. I also want to encourage you to give yourself lots of grace. Everybody goes through a season of transition differently and at his or her own pace. Some are quick to make the change and others take longer to process. Continue to invite God into your process wherever you are at.

If you are mourning a season of old, remember that God takes us from glory to glory so whatever is next, is going to blow your mind. It may come to you in a different looking package than you’d expect. However, if you are positioned where God wants you right now for such a time as this, He’s surrounding you with keys for your destiny hidden in the lives all around you. Blessing you with great hope in the midst of this change. He’s not only transforming you into more of who you are called to become, He’s getting ready to pour you out to the world in a greater overflowing measure. Lean into Him; He will hold your hand in this transition and get you to the other side.

Blessing each of you with fresh perspective for what God is currently doing in your midst and an infusion of hope and anticipation for what He is about to do. May He remind you today who you are and what you’re born for. May His faithfulness overwhelm you and may He be your peace that passes understanding.

“This is what the Lord says – He who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters…Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”

Isaiah 43:16-19

by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D

While living together or being a part of an intentional community can be very messy at times, it is also one of the most beautiful experiences one can have. Family accelerates growth. We can’t step into the fullness of our destiny apart from our tribe.

The following are three ingredients or ways of doing life modeled after Jesus that we have embraced as a part of the Destiny House experience the past six years. We hope and pray that our rhythm will inspire you to intentionally gather with your tribe to run after Jesus with everything inside and be launched into a greater measure of your destiny.

1. Cultivate Connection (Family)

We have regularly set aside one night a week exclusively for family time. This includes making and sharing a meal together, spending time catching up and sharing testimonies, connecting, and an opportunity to receive prayer/ministry if needed. What happens during each family night might change each week but the primary goal is connection. Impartation, teaching, or equipping may be released at times but that is not the regular focus of these times together. Some of our family nights have turned into the Holy Spirit falling upon us all and end in pure worship to Him, others have ended in a round circle of each person doing a rap, and one time we all went out for ice cream. The key is to set aside time each week simply to be with each other and connect at a heart level. Consistently make time for each other and have fun!

2. Cultivate Hunger (Fasting & Feasting)

We have regularly fasted as a community on the first day of the week (Mondays) so we can grow in our hunger for God. We skip two meals and then come together in the evening to share dinner and break our fast together. This works best when it’s a potluck style meal and everyone is involved in preparing the meal together and eating a common meal. Many revivalists have experienced their defining moments while on a fast. Read Feasting on God: The Lost Art of Fasting by Jennifer A. Miskov.

 3. Cultivate Space for Encounter (Worship)

We have regularly set aside a time each week to open our doors to host a worship/encounter time together as family. This is open to all ages and we love it when children can join in. Dance and creativity also has a special place in the worship gathering. The emphasis and focus of this time is on loving and adoring Jesus. The purpose of our worship time together is Encounter and to spend time in the Secret Place together as a community. It is to see Jesus face to face, to know Him more, to love Him with our whole hearts. These gatherings are not about us seeking God to answer our prayers or give us things. It’s not even a place where we come to seek healing; it’s all about JESUS (Psalm 27). We want our time together in family to honor and love Him well.

These worship times together and even the song choices we use are all about adoring Him. While praise, thanksgiving, and songs crying out to God are all good, our emphasis and focus is simply ADORATION. We want to set down our agenda, our problems, and simply worship Him because He is worthy of it all no matter what we are going through. And it’s powerful to do this week after week in the context of family, showing up and being vulnerable before God together even if sometimes that’s the last place one wants to be. Part of this practice is learning to show up and worship in community no matter what is going on in our lives. We consistently love on Jesus in the context of family and praise Him because He is worthy and never changes even if our circumstances do (2 Chronicles 20).  Stewarding this well of encounter together also sharpens us to stay unified.

So while we show up to our times set aside to worship together with one focus, many times as a result of us pouring our love out to Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes and marks us with the Father’s transforming love. Many times people weep and God heals deep things in their hearts without anyone even praying for them. Creativity is stirred as we create space to worship God with all of our hearts, minds, souls, spirits, and bodies. Art, and dance are released regularly as a part of the worship team. We dive into the river of the Holy Spirit and move wherever God takes us which looks different literally every week. Influenced by the Welsh Revival, our meetings are worship focused. In the beginning of the meeting, we briefly welcome guests, have a few people share testimonies, someone will give a very brief word, then we will go straight into worship, encounter, and then ministry however the Holy Spirit is leading.

Example of our Destiny House Rhythm

This is the rhythm we’ve shared for more than 6 consecutive years that represent our core values of Glory, Honor, and Destiny

1.     Family: Commit to family night each week with Feasting together (Monday Nights)

2.     Hunger: Commit to fasting one day each week (Mondays)

3.     Encounter: Commit to worship in the context of family one time a week (Friday Mornings)

*Once a month on a Saturday night we also regularly hosted an Encounter Worship Night for more focused impartation, equipping, teaching to be released.

If you have been stirred and want to learn of the history of Destiny House and how to develop a revival community

by Jennifer A. Miskov

Climbing high means
Deeper wounds ‘cause
When you fall
from this altitude
Way up here in the sky
Where the angels reside
It hurts and
You feel
Pain
But that just means
You are
Alive

Living near the dirt doesn’t hurt
But soaring off of cliffs
When you’re just learning how to fly
Is sure to give you a nice surprise
Oh fearless one

You have climbed high
And fallen low
You have been bruised and beaten down
But never letting go and
Not alone
You
Have risen up
and climbed high

You have run far
And stayed low
You have fought hard
And not let go
You have dug deep
And struck gold

Hearts wide open
Singing and soaring
You’ve never looked back
Even when your heart was cracked
Wide Open

Oil spills out
Fills the room
Everything changes
In the perfume of
You

Courage hidden in tears
Now ascending
High above the clouds
Deep into the rhythm
Of His heart beating
Faster as He draws near

Feel His breath as He
Stands before
You
Face to face
Lost in His embrace
No more shame
For this is how
You Overcame

*Written on April 26, 2018 and presented to the graduating Destiny House tribe 2017-2018. Be blessed and infused with courage and strength for such a time as this. Hang on tight to Him and don't give up. This world needs you.

By Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D. July 17, 2018

Here I am sitting with white space surrounding me, walls stripped bear. The only decorations left are the memories that remain. I have moved a total of 8 times since coming to Redding in September of 2011. I am approaching my 7 year anniversary of being in Redding as I finish up not only packing to go on my next trip to Maui but also packing up and moving out of both Destiny House and my beautiful little apartment on Gold Hills Drive. I said goodbye to the house on Placer Street where the Destiny House movement was birthed yesterday.

You see, earlier on this year God was stirring our team to begin praying about next steps with Destiny House. As we neared renewing our lease into our 7th year, we felt there was a shift and that God wanted to do something new in our tribe. Instead of doing what we always did, we felt God was leading us to stay small as we grow big. After a huge process of God speaking and confirming it to us (including the painful process of surrender and trusting it all to the Lord), we let go of the physical property. This was not easy at all, especially as I had vision to see worship released in family there for 100 years and we still had 93 left to go! We came to realize that Destiny House is more than a building, it's a people.

We only found out months later after we decided not to renew the lease into the season, that YWAM (Youth With A Mission) had decided to rent out the neighboring Presbyterian church and needed a place nearby for their students to live. When we were feeling led to let go of that house, we had no idea of any of these things! God moved us out to make space for YWAM to steward the well of revival in the next season. Now a layer of missions will be built upon what we cultivated with worship in family and encounter. To learn more about our shift at Destiny House, see blog post entitled Living Stones: Open Letter About Changes with Destiny House.

 

WE FOLLOW A PERSON, NOT A VISION

The good thing is, we follow a Person, not a vision. Ultimately being one with Jesus is our greatest destiny, no matter what that looks like. This means that at any time as we follow the dreams and desires of our hearts, as we are united with Christ, He has the total freedom to change plans.  We need to remain tender and moldable in His hands to allow Him to reshape us and rebuild us at any time (Jeremiah 18). 

What does it look like to be clay in the hands of the Potter and completely trust Him even if it is uncomfortable in this new season? I can tell you this right now, everywhere I look, God is doing a new thing! We must allow Him to take us on a wild adventure and not resist His pull, even if it looks like something totally out of the box that we never would have even thought of. God is shifting, transitioning, and bringing alignment with Heaven over our relationships, callings, and partnerships so that He can knit us closer to our tribe in this season and prepare us to be perfectly positioned to steward the great harvest that is on it’s way and in some ways is already here.

Now is an important season of uprooting, repositioning, and launching into greater destiny as well as planting and building where God leads. One of my dreams for Destiny House was that people who came for a night or a season would get launched into a greater measure of their destiny when they left. As our tribe is now scattered all over the world, it feels a bit like the church in Acts that shifted from Jerusalem to Antioch. I believe God is launching us all into even more of what we are born for.

Some happy last memories with Destiny House alumni at the Placer Street house.

MY CRAZY LIFE

So that takes me into my personal update and very raw and unfinished process I will invite you into. Let me warn you, I don’t have a lot of answers, however, if you have managed to continue reading this far, I like you and want to include you in this journey. Today, July 17, 2018 is my last day of living in my apartment that I’ve been so blessed to have these past couple of years. A few days before my recent world tour, the family who I rent from told me they might be moving soon. Then a few weeks later, while I was ministering around the globe, I received the email that the house was sold and I’d have to move soon (they totally honored me in the process throughout the quick change including the house selling the day it went on the market). I honestly wasn’t surprised, especially after all that had recently unfolded with Destiny House. At the same time, I also honestly didn’t want to go either because I loved all of the intimate moments I have shared with Jesus in this space as well as the special moments with friends here. After a process of realizing it is the Lord who is pulling apart my nest so that He can push me out and teach me how to soar (the most uncomfortable feeling ever), I finally accepted it as the hand of God and began to move forward (after moving back and forth and feeling turned upside-down first).

I had already planned a trip to Maui before I knew anything about moving and feel the Lord on what God wants to do there. So right now you may have as many questions as I have, but in the midst of not having any of the answers to give you at this time, I want to say I am excited for what God has next. I trust Him fully to lead and guide, starting with the first step to Hawaii. While there for several weeks, I will get to spend some time resting and adventuring with one of my spiritual fathers and his wife, as well as a few ministry opportunities to pour out on the island and get to know the Maui tribe more. I will even get to do some work there and record an Ecourse in a studio along with other creative projects that have been on my heart for awhile. I can hardly believe this is my life and I am so grateful to receive such gifts from God. The life of being in full time ministry has it’s perks when God is your boss.

As of today, I am planning in being in Maui about a month, return to Redding for a few months to teach first quarter of BSSM, help set up the new season at Destiny House, teach at a few YWAM schools, do a ministry trip to Alaska doing a Writing in the Glory workshop in a prison, and spend time praying about what God has for me next (this is all very subject to change depending on what the Lord's plans are which will take precedent over my own ideas). I will continue to oversee the global movement of Destiny House and the leadership team. Destiny House Redding will now be stewarded by the incredible team of people I have known for many years and who are family to me, Kirsten who was the very first one to move into Destiny House with me nearly six and half years ago and April and Rodney Jennings who are from Anaheim Vineyard where I grew up and have since moved to Redding and have been running with us ever since. The model will look a little different but more to come on that soon. We believe God is doing a new thing and are excited to pioneer revival in family as we continue to dive into our 7th year of Destiny House.

So this is my now update and some of the process to get here. I warn you yet again that in a month, my plans could all completely change. It is my desire to be fully surrendered to the leading of the Holy Spirit and go wherever and whenever He leads no matter what that looks like. I invite your prayers during this process. When I look back at other transitions in my life, I am so encouraged and filled with HOPE that God already has everything mapped out. In the midst of the uncertainty and not knowing answers to most of the questions, one thing I do know is that Jesus is with me along the journey. He is so faithful and always has been.

 

OUR HOPE IS FOUND IN HIM

Regardless of the circumstances surrounding us, the truth is that if God didn’t even spare His own Son, how could He not also give us all things and have incredible plans laid out for us (Romans 8). Whether we have answers or not in this season, knowing Jesus is always enough. He is our One Thing. He is our destiny and our destination. As long as we relentlessly pursue the lover of our souls and remain closely connected with Him, no twists or turns can take our focus off His face. He is our One Obsession and our next step. We can fully trust in Him to lead us in His timing where He wants us to be.

Blessing you with fiery passion to behold the beauty of Jesus and lift His name up high no matter what you are facing today. May great courage to trust in the truth that He is so for you and with you in this journey be imparted as you read this. With love, blessings, and fire,

Jen

“Now may God, the inspiration and fountain of hope, fill you to overflowing with uncontainable joy and perfect peace as you trust in Him. And may the power of the Holy Spirit continually surround your life with His superabundance until you radiate with hope!” Romans 15:13 (TPT)

Check out this radio interview below which was over 6 years ago when I had no job, no car, and was in a similar situation of transition only to later realize I was on the verge of one of the biggest breakthroughs of my life preparing to birth Destiny House. Receive the blessing and impartation at the end!!!

Photo by the incredible Annette Biggers (www.acreativechange.com)

by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D.

*this was written in the summer of 2018 when I was en route from Europe to Africa during a severe time of crisis.

This article is dedicated to all of the pioneers on the front lines and those in the persecuted church.

“As long as I am with you my life is the light that pierces the world’s darkness.” - Jesus in John 9:5 (TPT)

If you are reading this right now, it means that you are born for such a time as this. Inside of you, you carry hope and an answer to the world’s problems. God has given each one of us strategies to overcome evil and to bring light into the darkest of places. Each generation is faced with an opportunity to break through and to take more ground for the future. We are called to carry and to be the light of Jesus in the midst of a crooked and depraved generation. We are called to shine like stars in the universe as we hold out the word of life (Philippians 2:14-16).

When storms arise, God’s power also arises. In the face of opposition, we are given the opportunity to be courageous and to act for Christ. We are also being strengthened to steward the greater inheritance we will gain on the other side. The only way through a storm is to face it. Have you ever seen a ship escape crashing waves by trying to avoid them or go parallel to them? The only way to save our lives and to advance against the evil coming against us is to turn our ship head on and go straight through the pounding waves to the other side. We step through fear by clinging to our Father in Heaven, wholeheartedly trusting in Him to lead us through. Receive this promise from God in Isaiah 43:1-2 where He says,

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
  When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.

5 Keys to help dismantle the forces coming against us and to release God’s power

I am in no way saying that I have the answers to the problems are world is facing right now or that if you use these keys your life will be protected. It is important that we remain one with Christ, connected to the Body of Christ, and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. He will lead us differently each time so it is imperative to always stay close to Him. With that said, I want to share a few weapons we have access to that can help dismantle the strongholds coming against our generation when the time arises.

In Christ Jesus and under His authority…

1. Love has the power to dismantle hatred and to reveal the nature of Jesus

Love is a weapon of warfare that can dismantle the stronghold of hatred. Because of the intensity of hatred arising in our day, our love must increase and become fiercer. Above all, we must recognize who the real enemy is. Our battle is never against flesh and blood or each other but rather against principalities and powers in which we have full authority and victory over in Christ (Ephesians 6). The enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy but Jesus has come to give us abundant life (John 10:10). The weapons of our warfare are not like the worlds. We must take dominion and confront the spirits coming against us by choosing to love people fiercely and realize the hatred aimed toward us is the enemy trying to silence us. By the power of the Holy Spirit alone, we must choose love in the midst of hatred. Love has the power to cover a multitude of sins and melt even the hardest of hearts. The more extreme the hatred, the more extreme our love must be to overshadow it. We must rebuke the enemy and instead bless those who curse us and pray for them (Matthew 5:43-45). When we recognize what battle we are truly in, having the correct perspective, and step out to love, it changes everything. We must be possessed by the Holy Spirit to have the power to love in the face of hatred.

2. Focus has the power to dismantle distraction and to release destiny

Focus is necessary for us to step into and fulfill our God-given destinies. Distraction is prevalent in our day and is a tactic the enemy uses to try to get us isolated from each other because he knows that unity in Christ is an unstoppable force to be reckoned with (Psalm 133). In Psalm 27:3-4 (NIV), King David says that

Though an army besiege me,
    my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
    even then I will be confident.

 One thing I ask from the Lord,
    this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
    and to seek him in his temple.

While many of us thankfully do not have to face an army head on, we do face an army of opposing thoughts and distractions that compete for first place in our thoughts. The one thing David sought was to behold the beauty of the Lord. What is our one thing in a world of options? A personal revolution will take place when everything else is stripped away and we wholeheartedly give Jesus first place again in our lives and thoughts. Focusing on Jesus dismantles the spirit of distraction and confusion and leads us into a place of intimacy and peace in Jesus like never before. Practicing being silence with God and waiting upon Him (Psalm 46) can help invite the fire of God’s presence to refine us.

3. Worship has the power to dismantle oppression and to shift the atmosphere

Worship in the midst of a storm dismantles oppression and may even ignite the next Great Awakening. In the story of the Moravians worshiping on a ship in the midst of a storm, John Wesley observed their strength in God and was marked. Influenced by his new friends, he later went on to lead the Great Awakening and start the Methodist Movement. It is crucial to worship God in every circumstance. Fixing our affection on Jesus lifts off heavy burdens and keeps us connected to the all-powerful God who is Lord over all. Our worship should not change depending on our circumstances because God never changes.

In 2 Chronicles 20, King Jehoshaphat was facing the greatest army ever known in his generation so he called his people to praise God for His holiness and give thanks. In this situation, while the people offered praise and thanksgiving, behind the scenes, God was at work to dismantle their enemies. In the midst of the greatest battles of our lives, is our first response to seek the Lord and pour out an offering of worship and praise? Worship is one of the most powerful weapons of warfare I have personally experienced. It helps us keep our focus on The One Thing rather than letting fear and anxiety consume us. It also clears the evil around and even creates a well for generations to come to step into the momentum of Heaven in that place. Most importantly, it knits our hearts together with our loving Father.

4. Intercession has the power to dismantle terror and to save lives

Intercession, or focused prayer, has the power to dismantle terror and every stronghold that comes against us. For those who feel called to remove barriers and pave the way for future generations to walk in great freedom and peace, I want to encourage you to study the life of Rees Howells (1879-1950). I believe his life holds keys we need for today in dismantling the evil coming against us. He was a revivalist from Wales who raised up an army of intercessors to lay down their lives on the altar of intercession and cover those on the front lines in prayer. They have marked results of rerouting Hitler’s attacks through their prophetic intercession.

Intercession is huge. If you know any missionaries or others who are giving their lives for the sake of the Gospel in dangerous places, your prayers make such a massive difference and can even be the difference between life and death (Acts 12). Whether you are on the front lines or in a comfortable home, your prayers can literally shift the direction our world takes. It is our responsibility to cover and support our family in Christ who are planted in the darkest places (Hebrews 13:1-3). May the spirit of intercession fall upon us all so that we can more vigilantly stand in prayer with our brothers and sisters afar.

5. Courage has the power to dismantle fear and to advance God’s Kingdom

Courage to step out in faith regardless of what opposition may come dismantles the spirit of fear and advances the Kingdom of God all around us. It’s in those times when everything seems to come against us that God is preparing us to break through into a new level of authority, power, strength, and dominion. Like an eagle, allow the resistance you are facing to let you soar even higher above the storm. This is the time to spread out your wings more than ever before. When fear creeps it’s way at your door, ask the Lord what is really going on and what greater breakthroughs He’s about to lead you into. It’s likely that one small act of courage and following your heart regardless of the opposition can set things in motion to have ripple effects for generations to come.

In the midst of the poverty spirit coming against her generation during the Great Depression, that was precisely the time when Aimee Semple McPherson (1890-1944) remained obedient to the leading of the Spirit to step out in faith and build one of the largest churches in California. With only a small amount of money to begin with, by the end of the construction, she was able to pay for the whole building in cash. Whenever something is coming against us, we must move in the opposite spirit and continue on following the leading of the Holy Spirit even if it doesn’t make any sense. Our circumstances should never dictate whether or not we remain obedient to follow the voice of God.

Blessing

These keys just scratch the surface and are not to be an exhaustive list. My goal is not to be enemy-focused but rather to equip the Body of Christ to both stand and take more ground for the Kingdom of God no matter what we’re faced with. In Christ, we have authority to face and win any battle the Lord leads us into. May you be stirred to be fiercer in your love, more focused on the face of Jesus, burdened with intercession for those who are on the front lines, and courageous like never before. Keeping your eyes on Jesus always, may you continue to move forward toward all that God has for you no matter what comes against you.

Remember that it’s just after the darkest time in the night that the dawn breaks through. Blessing you with courage to remain standing no matter what you are facing today and to endure until the end. Receive a fresh baptism of fire today. He is worthy of it all. I close with a prayer taken from my latest book Walking on Water:

"I pray that your focus never leaves the face of Jesus. I bless you with a fierce determination to take hold of Him no matter what the cost. May you be marked His presence all the days of your life. May you be ruined for anything less than His satisfying love. I bless you with a life that cannot function or exist without His presence. I pray that you are undone by the one thing and that Psalm 27 becomes a new anthem in your life. I pray that you would burn with a fiery passion and fall deeper in love with Jesus each day. May you receive a fresh impartation of hunger for God. May the Holy Spirit continue to come in even greater power for His name's sake. I bless you with a mighty baptism of love and of the fire of God. May you be utterly swept away in the tender love of Jesus until you are willing to go anywhere and do anything to be closer to Him still."

* See a recent blog post entitled How Revivalists Approached Epidemics and podcast that goes with it entitled Hope in the Midst of the Corona Virus.

**See Walking on Water: Experiencing a Life of Miracles, Courageous Faith, and Union with God and Defining Moments (by Bill Johnson) to get more equipped and to dive deeper into these themes…

by Jennifer A. Miskov, PhD

ENGLAND

I started my world tour by stopping in London for a few days to see Destiny House alumni Lucy and her family, Carmella, and then got to see Elisabeth King who happened to be in town too. Was great to reconnect with the beautiful Destiny House tribe in the U.K.

Then I headed to Birmingham where I lived from 2007-2011 and completed my PhD. We got to reconnected with friends Andrew & Rosie McNeil who are also the Vineyard pastors there. They hosted Destiny House family & alumni Stacy, Laura, Aimee, and myself with their incredible hospitality skills and also set us up for a fun week of partnering what God is doing in the nation. In February, they visited Destiny House and our tribe had the opportunity to pray and prophesy over them and it was a special time together. It was such a treat to then be with them in England right after they finished their sabbatical.

We dove straight into ministry with a special Holy Spirit Encounter night they planned for us when we arrived Thursday eve. God filled the church with hungry hearts. After I shared about the inheritance in that land that John Wesley paved the way for, we welcomed more of God’s presence and He came in a special way.

The next evening we got to share with the youth of the church and play games which was fun. Saturday we hit the streets to be a part of Healing on the Streets. It was fun to be back with the crew that helped me launch it in the city over 10 years ago. There were some fun opportunities to pray for people there. On our walk back to the car, we decided to ask one of the buskers who was singing in the city center if we could borrow his guitar and microphone to release something and he said yes! Laura strummed on the guitar as Aimee shared her spoken word out there on the streets. Was so powerful and so much fun! Later that night we had dinner and a small gathering at the house we were staying at. We got to worship and share testimonies together, some of my favorite things to do!

On Sunday, we did two services, one in the morning and one in the eve. In the evening service, after the team prophesied over the nation including Mary T. who met up with us, I shared about the Welsh Revival and then called for a fresh baptism of fire and of the Holy Spirit. God moved in our midst in a powerful way. So grateful to have had the opportunity to pour out in my home church in England I was involved in when I lived there.

Monday night we gathered the prophetic community of a few local Vineyard churches and after the team imparted what they had learned about the prophetic, Stacy danced over each person what she was feeling prophetically for them. It was so powerful. Tuesday we had a play day and went to Stratford upon Avon where Shakespeare grew up. England was so good to us. We felt so welcomed, loved, and I’m also so grateful to Andrew and Rosie for making space for us to share our hearts and impart into their people.

It was also special to recognize how much I have grown in the last 7 years since living thee and how faithful God has been to me. He’s done so much in such a short amount of time and I am so grateful. It was a treat to see friends and partner together to release more of the Holy Spirit in the church and city. From ministering at church, to Healing on the Streets, to a youth meeting, prophetic gathering, staff meeting, we had a special time pouring out together. Highlights were definitely when Aimee and Laura asked a street performer to use his microphone and guitar so they could release spoken word on the streets, the small gathering where Stacy prophesied over everyone there through dance, and reconnecting with precious friends. It was special also getting to impart our Destiny House DNA to others wanting to build community. We love our English family and it was a treat to reconnect and partner together with Andrew and Rosie for a fresh move of God in their nation.

---

CZECH REPUBLIC

From England, we flew to Czech Republic where more of our Destiny House tribe came from around the world to meet together at a castle. We were initially drawn to visit the Czech after several confirmations, dreams, and divine appointments as well as the desire to dig deeper into the well of the Moravian movement which we’ve been influenced by.

We had such a special and deep time together with the Destiny House family in the CZECH REPUBLIC. It’s like we discovered the roots of our own tribe here. These people know how to linger in God’s presence and wait on the Holy Spirit in such a tender way. Rather than bringing them Encounter with Jesus, we all just went there together. We also had some beautiful moments of communion with each other on the castle grounds where the 24-7 worship was hosted. Our Encounter night in the barn ended with us all holding hands uniting together with people from different churches and the shape of our circle ended up in a heart. This is so profound as Czech is known as the heart of Europe. We felt such a sweet connection with this nation that birthed the Moravian movement. It’s been such a treat to be together with the Destiny House family in Europe.

In the Czech, we realized that the way we normally minister didn’t work there because we discovered that we were drinking from the same well and that these were our people. We saw a need to actually teach and help cultivate connection and unity among the people rather than only lead encounters. I shared about being the Living Stones as well as the importance of every part of the Body of Christ needed to play it’s part in unity. We were blessed with sweet kindred connections with Niko, Teresa and their family at the castle where we stayed. They hosted an evening with us at their barn and brought in leaders and people from the region together. They also hosted a 24-7 prayer room the weekend we were there. We also got to visit the church where Jan Hus used to preach before he was martyred for defending his faith. BSSM students Jennifer and Eva and other friends welcomed us into the nation with so much hospitality and fun. We loved our time together partnering for unity in the nation. 

---

MOZAMBIQUE

MAPUTO
My first stop was at the Iris base in Maputo. One of the most profound moments of my trip happened when I was being driven into the center at the same time that school was getting out on the base. We slowly drove on the first road filled with kids in uniforms that slowly parted as we drove through. A sea of well fed and educated children all because of one yes over 20 years ago by Rolland and Heidi Baker. We never know how many people in the future will be impacted by our one yes today. I was wrecked!

There it was great to meet the incredible missionaries and to facilitate a Holy Spirit worship night together with them. I also got to see some the once kids when I first met them but who are now moms and dads with families. They are still burning for Jesus nearly two decades later which makes my heart so happy!

CAMP 2000
From there I got to help take a team of visitors out a couple hours north to Camp 2000, a church in a refugee camp I helped plant right after the floods in the year 2000. I got to see Pastor Rafael and meet his family with 4 kids. I first met him when he was 17 and he would go out with me and the others to evangelize and plant churches years ago. Seeing his faithfulness to continue to remain there even after 18 years warmed my heart.

While there was not much progress on the physical church building since last time I was there in 2012 and prayed over its foundations, the church community itself, though small, was strong with a solid leadership team and burning hearts devoted to the Lord.

They were so blessed to have us visit and after our worship service together they made us a great local feast. God put it in my heart to help Rafael build the church building he’s wanted for the past 6 years but has no income to make any progress on. His dream is to also eventually make it a center to help care for orphans since there’s a need to help the children there. I will take a team here next year to help build the church and it costs less than $10,000 to help make this dream a reality. If anyone would like to contribute toward this project, you can give here www.silvertogold.com/give

PEMBA

I next flew up to the north in Pemba and God gave me safe passage into the city. There were recent terrorist attacks in villages that Iris has been to a few hours north of there and many had warned me not to go. However, when I heard the news, I was even more compelled to go to simply be there and pray if nothing more. When you’re family is in trouble, it’s good to support them and stand together. To learn more of Iris' official statement during this time, go HERE.

I had the opportunity to teach the Mozambican Bible School students several times and also a couple times for the remaining Harvest School students that were there before they all were told by the government to leave the country because of the attacks that had taken place.

I had the chance to visit the Iris University that Heidi has been contending for for over 15 years now. It truly is amazing to see that even in the face of attack and opposition of the enemy, Heidi and Rolland are continuing to move forward with the promises God placed on their hearts. To quote Heidi herself, “When you don’t quit, you win.” Sometimes dreams take a long time to build but I am grateful for examples like Heidi who don’t give up on the dreams God has placed in her heart.

I also have the privilege to go on the Iris boat with Heidi, Pastor Surprise, and lots of other greats. We had fun adventures as well as got to meet some of the village children when we took a smaller boat to an islet. The next day we went to do an outreach to the village children at the university. With 2 minutes warning, I got asked to preach to the children and found out when I was holding the microphone that I’d have to do it in Portuguese. I’m not exactly sure what they heard but it was fun to literally dive into the deep end and give it a try!

I had the opportunity to go on another boat ride on our sabbath day with some of the incredible visitors who all said yes to come despite the crazy reports and danger in the land. We had so much fun and finally got to swim in the gorgeous ocean here. It’s an amazing gift that Captain Kapas has made possible to the visitors and missionaries to take them out for a 3 hour tour and help them get refreshed during the intensity of living on a mission field. Taking a sabbath rest is life if you want to finish well and they are doing it well there. We even saw dolphins on our trip together!

My last day in Pemba we all prayed for a mama who’s kids were recently killed by the radicals. As I was praying for her, my heart was breaking. It’s one thing when you’re on the other side of the world hearing of the reports of terror but to be sitting with one who had her family stolen from her makes the pain and the war real and realer than it’s ever been. It was such an honor to be there with the Iris family during such a dark time. Heidi and Rolland are on the forefront of bringing light to pierce the darkness and I was inspired to realize even more that my life is not my own and that being inconvenienced or suffering for the sake of the Gospel is one of the biggest privilege on this earth.

As Christians we have authority over this murderous spirit coming against our generation. We don’t fight against flesh and blood but principalities and powers (Ephesians 6). We have authority in Christ to tear down strongholds and to defeat this enemy of our generation through fierce love and prayer. With God all things are possible. If God is for us, who can be against us (Romans 8). In the darkest of times, it’s our time as the church to shine and go wherever the Spirit leads us. If we die, we die. But if we don’t step out and take risks where God is leading, are we really even living at all?

I was reminded in Africa that Christianity is not about being comfortable. How many times have I or we prioritized avoiding pain over obedience? But did Jesus avoid pain? Did the apostle Paul go around cities because he knew he might be beaten (Acts 14:19-20, 20:22-24, 21:1-16)? They and so many others fully followed the leading of the Spirit even into suffering and pain because they knew there was a greater purpose. They knew that they lived for eternity.

Paul’s said in Philippians 3: 8-11
“I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in Him... I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings becoming like him in death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

Will we say yes today to the call to go anywhere and do anything God calls us to, no matter what the price? Will we surrender all for the sake of One who laid down His very life to give us a future and a hope? Will we allow ourselves to be inconvenienced for the sake of loving Him today?

Let's pray this pray afresh together right now.

Jesus, I surrender ALL of my life to you today. I lay all of my gifts, reputation, relationships, accomplishments, past, present, future, dreams, and destiny at Your feet. I trust it all to You and ask that You consume it all with your fire. Anything that’s not Your gold for my life, strip it from me. I give You permission to melt and reshape my heart. You can refocus, remold, restructure, and redirect my life however You seem fit. I want more of You at any cost. You can have my whole heart. Let my life be ALL about loving you wholeheartedly. May my life be a fragrant offering well pleasing to You. In Jesus’ name, amen.


Here's a few verses to read on the privilege it is when we get to suffer alongside Christ:
Philippians 1:29-30 / 1 Peter 4:12-16 / Hebrews 13:3 / James 1:2-4 / Acts 14:19-23

FINAL EXHORTATION

Did you know that when the wind is against you and you spread out your wings, you will fly even higher? In the face of resistance or challenging seasons, that’s precisely the time to step out in faith and believe for more. It was in the midst of the Great Depression that Aimee Semple McPherson had faith to step out to build one of the largest churches in L.A. I had the honor of watching first hand how in the midst of one of the darkest times in her beloved nation, Heidi Baker became even more fierce to take more land and move forward to bring light, love, and healing into the darkest places. I am honored to be alive for such a time as this. I want to encourage you to never give up on your dreams and in the hardest of times, do the opposite of whatever is coming against you. You were born for such a time as this.

So shine bright ones; He is worth the prize. When challenges and hardships come against you, you are on the verge of your biggest breakthrough. The only way forward is facing the storm head on and going through it. Breakthrough is on the other side of this trial, I promise you that. Be courageous, God is with you. Isaiah 40:31, 60:1, Psalm 91

Thanks for joining me on this journey and for all those who supported this trip, we couldn’t have done it with your investment and prayers! Blessings and fire on your journey. May your eyes remain fixed on the face of Jesus always, He is so for and with you!

Extended Version

by Jennifer A. Miskov, PhD

“So keep coming to him who is the Living Stone—though he was rejected and discarded by men but chosen by God and is priceless in God’s sight.

Come and be his “living stones” who are continually being assembled into a sanctuary for God. For now you serve as holy priests, offering up spiritual sacrifices that he readily accepts through Jesus Christ.”

1 Peter2:4-5 (TPT)

As Destiny House entered into its 7th year this year (established Feb. 2012), we felt increasingly that God wanted to do a new thing. This began with several dynamics pointing to the direction that it was time to transition out of the physical home on Placer Street where Destiny House ministry was birthed. This was a very hard decision to come to, especially after contending, stepping out in faith, and eventually obtaining the whole house throughout the years. However, God has been moving in this direction toward something new for some time.

Then this Spring, God spoke to me through reading a children’s book to my two year old nephew. It was about how instead of building one big “nest” lots of small ones may be best. The very next day I met with Heidi Baker to share my process. God confirmed through her sharing that we are “living stones” that it was time to let go of the physical property because Destiny House is not a location but it’s a tribe of worshipers. Wherever we go we are temples of the God, we are living stones being built together to release God’s Glory (Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:4-5). A location or a house cannot define us because we carry destiny wherever we go.

Through multiple other confirmations and dreams given to the girls, we finally made the decision to surrender the house and trust it completely to God.

A few months after we had made that decision and taken steps to move, we found out that YWAM will be using the church next door for their school and they will need a place nearby to house their students. It is looking like they may move in right after Destiny House moves out end of July. Amazing how God knew they would need that space all along and how He will continue to use that anointed home to host His presence and have missionaries dwell there. God is so good!

We are currently still very much in a process as the tribe of Destiny House of reflection, prayer, and restructuring. Anything can still change in this process. Our heart is to see multiple communities embrace a lifestyle of intimacy with Jesus in the context of family and to cultivate wells of revival around the world.

Destiny House alumni will likely pioneer smaller Destiny House communities in Redding with the same rhythm we’ve always shared of fasting on Mondays then breaking the fast with a family meal as well as Friday morning worship. Location to be determined for future meetings. As we continue to build this movement together, we are opening our hearts for it to look differently than it has looked in the past all while continuing in the vision of worship and revival released in family.

Because of this transition toward multiplication and also all of our travel schedules during the summer, we also felt the need to pull back from hosting Friday morning worship times for the public for a season so we could instead meet as a team Friday mornings. We are continuing weekly worship in family and praying together about next steps. We are still stewarding the 100 year vision of worship in family and looking at strategies how to grow and release this model of Destiny House to many more even around the world. More to come on that soon and how more people can be involved.

We would appreciate your prayers during this exciting shift toward global expansion and multiplication. If you have a testimony of how you’ve been blessed by the Destiny House family, please email it to me at info@silvertogold.com. These testimonies will help us as we process and reflect on what He has done as well as may be used in a testimony book we want to put together. We are excited for what God wants to do in our community in this new era. Thanks for listening and joining us on this journey deeper into the heart of Jesus and family.

For those who feel they want to run with us in the future to steward this vision of releasing revival in family and living for The One Thing (Psalm 27), stay tuned and keep connected with us to learn more as things unfold. Blessing you each with freedom and courage to let go of what’s been familiar when God leads so you can be positioned to receive what He’s about to bring next.

“So, you are not foreigners or guests, but rather you are the children of the city of the holy ones, with all the rights as family members of the household of God.

You are rising like the perfectly fitted stones of the temple; and your lives are being built up together upon the ideal foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, and best of all, you are connected to the Head Cornerstone of the building, the Anointed One, Jesus Christ himself!

This entire building is under construction and is continually growing under his supervision until it rises up completed as the holy temple of the Lord himself. This means that God is transforming each one of you into the Holy of Holies, his dwelling place, through the power of the Holy Spirit living in you!”

Ephesians2:19-22 (TPT)

With love from Jen Miskov June 17, 2018, Pemba, Mozambique

by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D.

PEACE

Five letters, one word, but when it appears, it destroys millions of competing thoughts to bring us to a place of rest in the Father’s truth. Peace is something that so many of us strive for yet so few of us have as a regular part of our lives. One definition of peace is “freedom from disturbance” and another is “freedom from war.” In our day and age, we truly have to fight off a war of competing thoughts to steward a place of peace in our hearts and to keep our attention on The One Thing (Psalm 27). What would our lives look like if we could steward peace despite our circumstances, distractions, pain, or lack? What if we knew at a core level that we are God’s children and because of that, we knew that He will always keep us safe and will always be present with us in our darkest and most confusing times?

Stewarding peace in our lives means that no circumstance or situation can change our perspective on God or shake the security we have in Christ. When our hope is fixed solely on Jesus who paid a great price to win us over, no storm in this life will ever again have the power to move us (Psalm 91). We are firmly rooted in God’s overwhelming love (see Romans 8).

I have good news for you. It’s easy to steward peace in our lives if we simply follow what has already been given to us in God’s Word:

Philippians 4:4-7 (NIV) says,

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Let’s break this down into three simple action points:

1. REJOICE

Choose to rejoice in God always. This means to celebrate His goodness in good times and in bad. It means worshiping Him at all times because He never changes (2 Chronicles 20). Always means always; not just when things are going our way. If He can trust us to fix our affection on Him during hard times, He can trust us in good times to continue to keep our focus on Him. And praise God; the Lord is always near! No matter what the situation, God is near to our hearts. Because of His nearness, we can choose to be anxious about nothing and rejoice always!

2. TRUST

Let go and let God move on your behalf. In every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, we are to give our requests, burdens, cares, questions, and uncertainties to God. TRUST, another five-letter word but when lived out changes everything. What would our lives look like today if we truly trusted that God is for us (Romans 8:31)? Or that He is working behind the scenes on our behalf even now to bring us into a greater level of the abundant life He died for us to have (John 10:10, Ephesians 3:20, Hebrews 12:1-2)? Because of who He is and His great faithfulness, we can trust Him with our whole hearts.

3. THANK

Practice gratitude, it’s a privilege. When faced with a great need, it’s the perfect time to recount times in the past where God has come through for you in a similar situation. Furthermore, move beyond just thanking God for the past; learn also to thank Him for the future. Trust in His character and begin thanking Him ahead of time for the breakthrough He will bring. Thank Him that He has already gone before and is preparing a way to bring perfect alignment. Thanksgiving and praise opens the gates to more of God’s presence (Psalm 100:4).

Stewarding peace is simple when our perspective is in alignment with heaven. Proverbs 3:5-7 (NIV) summarizes it quite well.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways (acknowledge or) submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.

We literally don’t even need to say another word because these Scriptures say it all. All we have to do is actually believe and apply these truths to our lives to receive this incredible gift of peace that transcends what we can see in this moment. God’s ways are so far above our ways (Isaiah 55:9). If we truly believe the truth that if God did not spare His own Son, how could He not also, along with Him, give us all things (Romans 8:32), we can more easily trust Him with our daily cares.  If God cares for the birds of the field, how will He not care for us who are more valuable to Him than these (Matthew 6:25-34)?

When we let go and trust God with our burdens, our hearts are wide open to receive the peace that passes understanding. This peace comes when we no longer lean on our own ideas of what’s happening in our situations but instead we choose to trust that God has a bigger story in mind. I want to encourage you to pray the following prayer out loud as an act of walking in peace:

God, I give you all of my burdens today. I let go. I entrust each of my concerns into Your loving arms. Thank You that You have already gone before me to bring breakthrough and to provide for my needs. I thank You that You care about what concerns me. I choose to rejoice in Your goodness and to celebrate Your faithfulness. I thank You for what You’ve done in my life in the past to get me to where I am today. I acknowledge that You are a good God with a great track record in my life. I renounce fear, anxiety, torment, and any distractions in my life that would keep me from You. I declare that only Your truth is welcome in my life. I believe that You are for and with me in every circumstance. I stand in faith and hope that in Your perfect timing, You will make all things new. I trust that You will bring me to where I need to be as I keep my eyes fixed on You. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

I bless each of one you with the courage to let go and to trust God with all that concerns you. Instead of worrying about the future, I declare the Father’s love and peace to permeate every cell in your body. As you trust in God with all your heart, may you receive a fresh baptism of the love of the Father. As you practice thanksgiving, I pray that your perspective shifts and that you receive a peace that transcends unanswered questions. In this moment, may you be filled to overflowing with His peace that passes understanding. Blessings to you in Jesus’ name. Amen.

*If you want to learn even more about how to Steward Peace in the Midst of Storms, check out my latest book Walking on Water: Experiencing a Life of Miracles, Courageous Faith, and Union with God where I go more in depth and also provide additional prayers and activations for walking in peace and freedom.