I’m writing today to all of you out there who love me and have prayed for me over the years. There is an issue that is taking place right now that I feel needs to be communicated. For the past year there has been a growing problem with my heart. A condition known as “A-Fib” (irregular heartbeat\palpitations) has been plaguing me starting every so often at first and now growing into a daily battle. As many of you know, I have had several procedures done in the last 6 months to help my heart, including the placement of 2 stints. My doctors have given me different medicines and much counsel but, in the end, we need the Lord to do a work in order to see this present battle won. This is where your prayers and agreement are critical!
In 1999, I was at a place where my heart was functioning at 19%, according to the doctors, and I had entered into “congestive heart failure.” This was met with the healing touch of the Lord Jesus at a local tent revival where, through a word of knowledge, the Lord completely restored my heart back to over 95% function! Glory to God! I know that He can and will heal my heart now. He’s done it before and He will be faithful to do it again.
Please pray that the Lord would give me wisdom and direct those giving me medical advice. Please pray that faith would continue to grow and be alive for total healing in all of my body from head to toe. Finally, please be understanding and patient in this season as my preaching and ministry may seem to be erratic. Amie and I both are committed to revival in this generation. We know the enemy hates this agenda. Join with us in faith to see this battle won and the lives of many changed for His glory. With love, Joel
1 Cor. 15:43 Our bodies now disappoint us, but when they are raised, they will be full of glory. They are weak now, but when they are raised, they will be full of power.

For those of you who have followed the saga of my life for anytime you know that we have been in south Fla for a 3 month medical sabbatical. I cannot begin to tell you all that has happened in our lives for this time, but will let you know that many good things have taken place. It is hard to believe that it has actually been 3 months already, and tom we go home just in time for the annual 220conf. When we got here it was the middle of March and my health was in a very poor place. It took me 5 days just to get over being directly sick in order to begin the process of going forward into a new place of nutrition and health. In the midst of this time away, there has been much soul searching, growing closer to one another, and facing fears that have been there for a long time but have been suppressed due to the all-important busyness of the moment. The Holy Spirit knew what He was doing by putting us into this position of rest and reflection for this time. There is no doubt in our hearts that we are coming out of our “cocoon” with greater clarity of purpose and resolve to advance the glorious Kingdom of God. Here are some of the things that have deeply impacted us in our time here:

1. It’s all about the Kingdom of God- when the hustle and bustle of life and ministry subside there is nothing left but what impact we are truly having on the agenda of Heaven. The Kingdom is so much bigger than our services and staff meetings! The Kingdom is within us and we are commanded to bring that Kingdom to a lost and hurting world no matter if we have a pulpit or not.

2. The depravity of man- being outside the Bible belt and around an area where the pursuit of pleasure and riches is the norm, the fallen state of humanity has struck me more deeply than ever before. The human condition of being “lost” and in need of salvation has been seared even deeper in my heart.

3. The neglect of the Holy Spirit- our culture of western church has moved over the last 10 yrs in a most disturbing and dangerous direction of ignoring the person of the Holy Spirit. This basically means that if Jesus were here on earth today that we would not like Him at all! The Holy Spirit IS the Spirit of Jesus and represents Him exactly as Jesus did the Father. How could we nominalize and trivialize Him in any way? How could we think that the One who holds all power to point to Jesus would somehow be a hindrance in the “modern” process of seeing people saved? (more to come on this!)
The final week of our time was truly a test of adversity and warfare looking forward. From Tues. till Sat there was 3 dialysis treatments and 2 hospital procedures performed. This was grueling! But the Lord gave me the strength and grace to come through and still be super excited about what is to come. It is amazing how you can plan things out in your mind but the way things actually go down are always different! It was surely not in my plan to end my time with such an onslaught of physical adversity, but, what ya’ gonna to do! WALK IN VICTORY!

Amie and I return home to LA with great anticipation of the future and more fire in our hearts than ever to reach a generation with the love of Christ. We are eternally grateful for all your prayers and support in this season. We could not have done it without your kind words, thoughts, and prayers. There are many verses that could be given in this blog but I feel led to leave you with this particular one:

2 Cor. 8:14 Right now you have plenty and can help those who are in need. Later, they will have plenty and can share with you when you need it. In this way, things will be equal.

Over the last 10 years of dealing with young people and their struggle with the foul root of rebellion, there is a pattern I have noticed that goes far beyond youthfulness and affects all believers. This is what I would like to term “relatable rebellion.” This subtle rebellion is when someone disregards or discredits authority (God’s Word, Spirit, or especially delegated authority) due to the fact that “they can’t relate with me or what I’m facing.” Ex. If your a young person, then an older person could never understand you or your problems because they are old! Makes sense? If your married then a single person could never understand your problems….right? If your a parent, then someone who isn’t a parent could never understand your issues….right? And even if they are a parent but they don’t have teenagers then they, of course, don’t qualify to instruct or direct in your dilemma…right? If your the leader of 1000 then how could someone with 350 ever qualify to speak into your life? This endless form of excuse never fails to provide opportunity to disregard authority and a perfect escape route from obedience or accountability. Examples:

I was in a meeting with the parents of a teenage girl in the youth ministry and after talking with them about her issues (which were obviously from the dysfunction of her parents) the father presumed to tell me that I could not understand how to deal with his daughter because I “don’t have teenagers of my own.” Well, does that mean that every youth pastor has to grow his own teenagers before he\she can qualify to pastor teenagers? This is ridiculous!

Another arena of true deception regards that of race. Anyone who is of a different race, color, or even cultural background can easily be disregarded because, of course, they don’t “understand anything about me” if they are not of my exact descent. HOGWASH!! I do believe that God can use people of similar background to minister specific truths in our lives, but it is not a blank check to disregard or even attack someone because they are not of the same exact ethnicity or background. (Newsflash: truth is not relative to culture or race)

One final example, is the complete disregard of authority due to the fact that they “haven’t been through what I have.” This lie is used by those who have, for instance, gone through a divorce in their family and because authority has a great family they are disqualified in their direction or advice because they were blessed enough not to endure a divorce. This type of logic means that you would have to endure every type of trial or hurt in your life possible to pastor\lead even a handful of people. Recently, someone told a minister close to me who has a heart to see the addicted set free, that because they had not been addicted to drugs they would have no ability to minister to drug addicts. So really, the more sin you indulged in or bondage you had in your life, the more qualified you are to minister to the lost? This totally defies the ministry of Jesus!
Let’s talk about Jesus. Did he need to participate in fornication so he would qualify to straighten out people’s mess of immorality? NO! Did he have to participate in homosexuality to minister to homosexuals? NO! Was He an older man with grown children that could properly direct parents with older children? NO! Did he have years of marriage experience to be able to shepherd those who are married? NO! On and on I could go in showing how this false logic has justified people in their rebellion against the authority of Christ.

As you can see, we are all guilty of using this age old excuse to circumnavigate the true direction of Christ in our life. Many people are extremely miserable and frustrated with where they are in their walk with the Lord (and life in general) because they fell/fall prey to this rebellious logic. I know in my life there have been many instances where, in my immaturity, I fell right into this deceptive trap of the enemy and completely justified my rebellion. There have even been times that I have justified things by saying to myself “they have never had kidney failure.” Like someone needs to go through kidney failure to be my authority or direct me in the ways of Christ! I hope that as you have read this article the Spirit of God would expose this deception in your life and help you as a leader to see this argument rendered powerless in those you’ve been called to lead. It is my decision to refuse this subtle rebellion in my life and not allow anyone to disregard Christ’s authority because they have found some deficiency or difference.

Heb. 2:17-18 Therefore, it was necessary for Him to be made in every respect like us, His brothers and sisters, so that He could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God… Since He Himself has gone through suffering and testing, He is able to help us when we are being tested.