The Scribes of Heaven

Recently as I was communing with the Lord I was reminded of a vision that I had a few years ago. In this vision I was shown a room in the heavenlies. This room was setup as a library with volumes of books on shelves around the room. In the center of the room were rows of tables and chairs. At these tables were seated angels who were writing in books that looked just like the volumes upon the shelves. I was told that these angels were scribes and were recording the exploits of the saints.

Every deed of the saints are recorded in the chronicles of heaven. The history of the Kingdom can all be found there without omission. These are the works of God done through His children. It is the worship of the scribes to record them. Each one of these volumes were recording a different person. Some people had more than one volume because of the size of their ministry. Heaven celebrates at our Kingdom work. I asked if my sins and shortcomings were recorded as well. I was told that they had been covered by the blood of the lamb and are remembered no more. Heaven rejoices in you!

Ending Financial Lack

God is bringing financial breakthrough to His people this year. We are going to see a transfer of wealth come from the unrighteous into the Kingdom. God does not want His servants to have to struggle financially. He doesn't want them to live in poverty or wonder where the money for their next meal is going to come from.

God is going to be releasing many of the keys to financial breakthrough over the next 7 months to His people. It is our responsibility to pray into these keys and ask God for greater revelation. But there are a few things that He has already highlighted to me.

1. Break off the poverty spirit. God feeds the ravens. He will take care of you. Don't worry about where provision will come but trust that it will be provided by the Father. Simply listen to Him and let Him guide all of your steps. Believe that God wants to be your provider.

2. Don't speak words of lack. This is critical. There is a power of the spoken word. Don't say things like "I can't afford my rent" or "I won't have any money" or "I'm poor." Declare provision over your life. I have less than I have ever had in my life. I don't know where money is going to come from but I am declaring God's provision over my life.

3. Have faith in God's plan. God is the perfect Father. He only has good things for us. He might want us to eat rice and beans for a season. He might choose for us to go without a car for a time. But when we need something He will provide. Break off the spirit of materialism but don't live like a pauper either (I'm talking mindset and not as much the actual spending habits). If God tells you to buy a brand new car then do it- He will provide the payments. If God tells you to go without a car- then do it. God's plan is perfect. If God desires for you to eat steak and lobster then He will provide it. God will give you the lifestyle that He desires for you in that season. But whatever that looks like your needs will be met.

January Newsletter

The following is my January Newsletter. If you want to be on my email list of prayer and financial supporters then message me your email.

Matthew Prewett

Missionary to Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA

PO Box 3693

Hollywood, CA 90078

Email: matthewprewett(at)gmail.com

January 2012 Newsletter

My first week:

            I have just started my first week as a full-time missionary in the house of prayer. It has been an awesome time of transition as I am easing into my responsibilities here. Right now I am focusing on my prayer sets and developing a partnership with the worship leaders on those sets. God is good and has been moving powerfully in these prayer times.

            I’m also heading up our marketing and communications department, which right now, consists of mainly just me and a couple of volunteers who run our website.

            Another endeavor that I started this week is working with the Saigu Campaign. The Saigu Campaign is raising awareness of the LA Riots and seeking to bring about healing and reconciliation as we approach the 20^th anniversary this April. Radiance International has partnered with them to provide prayer support throughout the campaign.

            In these next few weeks we are going to be launching our healing rooms and prophetic rooms for those who are in need of healing prayer and personal prophecy. I am part of a small core that will be spearheading that project along with our street ministry as we take the gospel out of the four walls of the church and onto the crowded sidewalks of Hollywood.

Looking forward to 2012:

            2012 is going to be a great year filled with advancement and victories. I believe that it is a year of restored vision and remembered dreams. Ask God to bring to remembrance His promises that you gave up on. Enter into the celebration of fulfilled promises!

            Another thing that many of God’s people have been talking about is financial breakthrough. Focus on God’s provision during this season. God feeds the ravens and He takes care of everything that we need. Declare breakthrough over your finances. God does not intend for His people to experience lack.

Financial Needs:

Currently I am working part-time. as I am still raising support. I need to raise a team of supporters who can commit to funding me on a monthly basis so that I can focus solely on the ministry at hand. If this is something that you feel led to do then please let me know what amount you can commit to (this is for my tracking purposes and budgeting) and mail any checks (put my name on the memo line) to:

Radiance International

6121 Sunset Blvd, Studio 205T Hollywood, CA  90028

2012: The First Few Months

Those, who have been following the prophetic words spoken about 2012, will know that this is the year when the apostles will arise. This is the year of governmental authority. This is the time when the Church is going to be realigned. This shift is going to take place throughout the year. It is a year of breakthrough and fulfilled promises. It is a year of resurrected dreams. The first few months are very key.

During these first two months God will be speaking to His people. He is going to be instructing us. This is a time of the secret place, but it is also, a time of stepping out. During this time He will be giving us the strategies for the rest of the year. These strategies are going to be the keys that we need to unlock our destinies and to walk out our calling for 2012 and beyond. This is also a time of remembering the forgotten dreams. Ask God to bring those dreams and promises to remembrance. Resurrection is here for those who are willing to believe once again.

March will be the time to march! Remove all things that are holding you back. Cleanse yourself of those things that keep you from pursuing God like you should. Cleanse your home of junk from the past that you don't need anymore. This is a time of cleansing and purification. God wishes us to be unhindered in the coming season. This coming season is to prepare us for the end-times. We are at the beginning of the end-time move of God. We can't survive the end-times with impurity and compromise. This is the time to take a reckoning of our lives and of our households.

The Tension Between Pastoring and Releasing

Currently, in the Church today, we see the gift of pastoring exhibited far more than the gift of apostling. Yes, I am using apostle as a verb and not a noun as it usually is. I'm doing this for discussion purposes as I couldn't think of a good term for it that didn't overlap with what a pastor does.

The term pastor can also mean shepherd. The role of the pastor is to tend the sheep. He (I will use the male pronoun but this is not necessarily meant to be an exclusion) is to protect them from outside influences and guide them in the Christian life. Pastoring is very nurturing. When I am going through a rough time in my life I want to be ministered by someone who knows how to pastor. In this way pastoring can be thought of as mothering.

The role of the apostle is to equip and send out. It is to call out the giftings within people and to equip them for the work of the Kingdom. This is one of the reasons why the apostles and prophets are the foundations of the Church. The apostle can sometimes be rough. Apostling can be compared to fathering.

There is an old joke that a mother sees a tree and tells her child not to climb it because he might get hurt while the father sees the same tree and tells the child to go ahead and climb it because he might get hurt. The mother is pastoring the child- she wants to see him safe. The father is equipping the child for the future because he knows that the world is dangerous and the child needs to experience those risks in order to grow.

I have had the privilege of seeing this first hand in the church. The lead pastor of my home church is very apostolic. He wants to release people into ministry as quickly as possible. He sees the gifting in them and wants to foster that gifting and grow it. This is what an apostle does. Their tendency is to tell them to climb that tree and to go over and rescue them if they struggle. The pastor on the other hand wants to foster that gifting and nurture it until the person is completely ready. The pastor hates to see people get hurt because it goes against his calling as a shepherd. The apostle doesn't want to hold back anyone from their calling and it is his calling to release people into their destiny.

This is also seen where pastors want to keep their flock within their church. The pastor hates to see his children leave the home- he would rather everyone stay together as one happy family. He knows that his children are safe when they are under his protection. The apostle is like the father who excitedly blesses his children as they leave the home. The apostle receives his joy by knowing that his children are out living their destiny. He simply asks that they visit from time to time and send him cards and pictures for the refrigerator. The apostle is willing to risk the safety of his children for their greater good.

Can this lead to problems? Yes, it can. That is why the five-fold needs to work together. The pastor needs to listen to the prophetic/apostolic and be able to let go of people. The pastor can hold on to people too long. The apostle can release people too quickly before they are ready. The apostle needs to listen to the pastor and use his voice as a balance.

We as God's people need to understand this balance and to discern what God wants for us. We must listen to the words of caution from our pastors while not holding ourselves back from our calling. Timing is critical to this season. As the apostles rise up and take their place they are going to become a lot better at discerning timing. Let us continue to pray for a unity of the five-fold ministry within the Church.

Why Los Angeles?

As I embark on full-time missions work in Los Angeles many may ask why does LA need missionaries? When we use the word missionary we often think of someone who is sent to a far away nation instead of our own backyard. For the past six years I have lived, worked, and studied in the greater Los Angeles area. For the past year I have lived in Los Angeles itself and I can tell you that LA needs a move of God as much as any other place on earth.

During the past year I have done door to door sales here in LA, before that in Orange County. I have worked in the hills of Hollywood, I have walked the streets of Compton, I have visited almost every kind of demographic that you can imagine. I have talked to grandmothers who saw their children get shot simply because they were standing on a sidewalk at the wrong time. I have made friends with those who grew up in the inner-city where waking up each morning meant you not knowing if you were going to live another day. I have heard the stories of those who made it out of those areas and those who still live it each day.

I have seen the homeless line the streets. I have over the past couple of months gotten to talk to some of them. The former car mechanic who now has to beg or barter for a meal. The children who have no one but the others in their little band of outcasts. The musician who came out here for a better life.

I have seen the prostitutes: Those who stand on a street corner selling their bodies to whoever will stop by. The woman in a luxury condo on the westside who thought I was her John. Then there are the ones who are trafficked and held against their will. Then again, all sex workers are held against their will, the enemy has enslaved them. Some are held by pimps, others by a drug habit, and others just can't imagine any other life.

I have met the ones who the world views as successful. Businessmen, actors, models, musicians. They are just as lonely and have just as much pain as the drug addict stuck in the inner city. They just look better to the outsider. But they need a touch from God just as much as anyone else. Los Angeles needs a touch from God.

Los Angeles has seen some of the greatest moves of God birthed from this place. The Azusa Street revival gave birth to the Pentecostal movement of the 20th century. Billy Graham had one of his first evangelistic crusades in the city. The 20th century missions movement and the idea of reaching the last unreached peoples were very much birthed out of the Los Angeles area. The Jesus People movement and the Charismatic Renewal both came out of Orange County which is right next to Los Angeles. Los Angeles is ready for the next great move of God. LA is key to God's plan for the nations.

The world looks at Los Angeles. It is a beacon of light to the world. Sadly, it is not a true light but a false light. The enemy has clothed himself in the glitz and glam of Hollywood and used it to promote immorality and perversion. God wishes to redeem it and for Hollywood to live out its destiny as a shining city upon a hill to reveal truth throughout the earth. 

There is a saying in politics that as California goes- so goes the nation. I say that as Hollywood goes- so goes the world. Can we transform a nation by transforming a city? I believe that the transformation and awakening of Los Angeles is one of God's great desires. He has brought people, from every nation on earth, to Los Angeles so that every nation may be touched when revival comes. 

I write this so that you will pray with me for Los Angeles. Pray that God will raise up the workers for the harvest is plentiful (Luke 10:2). And if the Lord wills consider partnering with me in prayer and finances. You can email me at the link on my profile.

The Aborted Mantles

This Sunday I was in the House of Prayer and the Lord caught me up in a vision. In this vision I was within a room in heaven. In this room was shelves with thousands of thousands of mantles. But these mantles were unlike the ones I had seen in heaven before. These mantles were much smaller than the mantles I have seen in heaven before. Christ was there in the room, along with an angel, and our Savior explained that these mantles belonged to babies who had been aborted before they had the chance to be born. These were mantles that had never seen the light of day.

The angel started showing me a few of these mantles. One of them was the cure for aids, another the cure for polio. There was a baby who had the mantle of evangelism and was going to be a powerful apostolic evangelist within the islands of Africa- but was aborted. Another African-American child was called as a voice of freedom within the inner cities of America to bring racial reconciliation. These are just a few of the mantles that God had in reserve. Christ and the angel were showing these mantles and speaking of the children who had been selected to bear them with such love. Sadly these mantles were never released.

I then followed the angel to another room and in the middle of the room was a large mantle upon a stand. I asked what was this mantle because I knew it was not for a child but for someone already grown. The angel told me that it was the mantle of Mordecai that was being held in reserve to be released once again. There are a number of people who have been selected for this mantle. The calling of Mordecai is to raise up the Esthers. God is going to raise up Esthers who will go before the rulers of this world and plead for the lives of those who have no voice. These men and women will carry great favor. Before the Esthers take their place of position they must be prepared for it by the Mordecais.

Along the walls of this room were troughs filled with swords and sickles. Christ then told me that there had been a period of grace over this nation but His judgement could not be stayed for much longer. If we allow abortion to remain in our land, if we continue to abort His chosen ones, judgement will come. These swords and sickles represent the tools of judgement that will be released upon the earth if we allow this scourge much longer.

We are coming to a kairos moment in our nation for the ending of abortion. 2013 will mark the fortieth anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Forty years is length of a biblical generation. We killed a third of our generation before they could be born. I feel that the decisions made in 2013 will decide the future of abortion in our country for the rest of our history. We, as the Church, must make a stand for life. This election of 2012 will elect the president, senators, congressional representatives, governors, and state legislators who are going to be making the decisions of 2013.

Many Christians have given up on the idea that abortion can be ended. I proclaim that as both slavery and segregation ended in the twinkling of an eye so can abortion. Let the Mordecais and Esthers arise! Let the Church arise and proclaim life over this nation.