Ok. I'm buzzed up on a large Moch-a-tete from Ebenezer's coffee house, so I think I'll finally write the ride report for this past weekend.

This ride was a solo trip, and looking back I kinda knew it was developing that way at least a week before I left. So on Friday, while I was working, God's presence was sooo real over my heart. My buddy Kevin sent me the website for this group I had heard of out of the corner of my ear before, but when I visited it, WOW! These folks, called burn 24-7, do all night worship - like my church had just finished doing the week before. So listening to the music on the site was just the nudge I needed to just be wooed by the Lord. And for about 15-30 minutes, I just had to pause from my work and be sauteed in the love-fires of Jesus.

Later on that day, my friend Roy sent me a youTube clip of his interview with Patricia King speaking with people about Jesus in the park. Again, it was like the Lord was prepping me for the beach.

So I left that evening and the next day, I went to the beach in the afternoon. On my way there, I was intending to buy a whiteboard and sit on a bench on the boardwalk with a sign that read something like "want prayer?" or something. I had done this once when I visited DC from North Carolina for a week. But this time, as I sat in the car with the door open, ready to go into Walmart, the Lord stopped me and said "Don't do that. Just trust me." Friends, do you know that God really isn't into formulas? He isn't into doing the same thing over and over. So after a few minutes I closed the car door and went on to the boardwalk.

I really had it on my heart to just worship Jesus, there. So I brought my drum and sat on the bench, and just enjoyed Him and who He is, and His love for me. In the morning before I left, He had been speaking to me that His love is so completely independent of what we do, or don't do - good, bad or neither! So I just chewed on that on that as people walked by and I played my drum.

As it turned out, my drum playing drew a lot of smiles from people. And that invited people to engage, and made it easy for me to engage them. And throughout the day people would come up and talk with me. One guy even came up and played tandem with me on my drum - a mini drum circle. In the course of the conversation I would mention that I was down in Va Beach on a missions trip to pray for people. Sometimes they'd be open to it, and sometimes not really. No pressure; just an open invitation.

So I got to pray for Donna, who had moved from DC.

I prayed for Damien and about four or five kids that were with him.

I spent quite some time with Tye, playing the drum for him as he played his harmonica, reading poetry to him and talking with him. Tye is homeless, and a US veteran from Vietnam, Nicaragua and Panama. So it was good to just hang with him for a while. I gave him one of my poems to read whenever he was feeling down.

I also prayed with Kevin, who really dug my drumming and my prayers for him. Kevin's had a bit of a rough go of life, as well. And it was a mutual blessing to meet him.

And while hanging with Kevin, Donald (also a veteran) came up and we got to pray with him, as well.

So anyway, when I called it a day after about five hours on the boardwalk, I kinda walked away wanting more. Like people getting saved, coming up out of wheelchairs (which I saw a LOT of there), delivered, etc. Maybe (hopefully!) that will come in future rides, but for this weekend, i think it was meant to be just a time to hang with folks and pray for them. and really thinking about God's love.

So until next time, be free and RIDE ON!

Chris

Will be going solo to Virginia Beach. Proably going to do some poetry reading on the boardwalk. A holy filibuster. Maybe do some drumming. And whatever else He moves me to do. Holy shenanigans! :-)

Our most recent Freedom Ride was more of a mini-ride to check and see how Jesus would have us serve, at a deeper level, the Mattaponi tribe near Williamsburg, Va.

So we went to their powwow on the 16th of June. (Sorry I took so long getting this report out.)

What a sweet time it was! Kevin, Stephanie and I arrived in the afternoon, and we immediately felt like we were in the middle of a great big family reunion. Native singers were drumming, and dancers were dancing in full regalia.

Stephanie took to the whole scene like a duck to water, and folks were coming up to her and engaging with her. Kevin went kept disappearing for long periods of time, and I basically was checking out the whole scene. I spent a lot of time watching the dances and listening to the drumming, and just basically getting enraptured in the beauty of the scene.

Later, I met one of the elders of the tribe - Ken. And he had such a bright spirit, that I knew that he and I both recognized each other as Jesus-people, which was confirmed when he closed the powwow as one of the elders of the tribe, in prayer, in the name of Jesus. I also met Sam, who was dressed in full tribal clothing, complete with hawks-feet earrings (very cool!) And then I met Little Dove, Sam's mother, and we talked a little while.

But in all of the meetings, I detected a bit of guardedness or wariness with them. Like I could tell they were thinking, 'Who are you and what are you doing here?' (This reflects an issue of guardedness that has deep roots in the native culture - roots that need to be healed and/or removed, but are too involved for me to explain in this note.)

Stephanie, on the other hand, was having people come up to her and immediately connecting with her, which was great! There were no 'divine appointments', no heavy-duty Jesus-encounters, but as I said before, the whole time felt like one big family reunion. And most of the people there were Christians, anyway.

And then, finally, on the second to last song, they made another invitation for everyone who wanted to join in the dance circle. This time, I said, 'what the heck' and jumped in. When we first got to the powwow, a young man from the Lakota tribe was dancing a traditional "grass dance" that looked a lot like the way I dance when I'm worshiping the Lord. So when I jumped in the circle, I danced the grass dance! I soon found out how out of shape I was when I was spent about half way through the first of what seemed like about five laps. But somehow I made it through. And when then dance was over and i was painfully gasping for breath, folks were coming up to me, grinning and shaking my hand. Shoot! If that's what it took to engage people, I would have jumped in the circle first chance! But now that I think about it, this is what I hear the Father speaking to me:

Engage people in the place of their passions, and you will find doors to bring My heart to bear in their lives.

After that, there was one more inter-tribal dance, and then they prayed to close the powwow. Four natives, each holding a flag (the native standard for all tribes, the American flag, the P.O.W. flag, and the Mattaponi flag), stood at attention with all of us as Ken prayed, in the name of Jesus(!), in thanksgiving for the day and benediction for the event.

Later, Kevin returned and it turns out he had been interacting with folks on the res. outside of the activity of the powwow - the folks at the trading post and George at the museum - and got a real feel for the community. So he took us to the museum, and we were introduced to one of (what we believe to be) the gatekeepers of the reservation.

And with that, we were done and were blessed and delighted to have been there at the Mattaponi reservation.

Thinking the day was over, we relaxed as we left the reservation. But our Father had ine more treat in store for us. On a whim, I decided to go to the Pumunkey reservation (we were told where it was by George at the museum). So we ended up taking some very seldom traveled roads and wound up at a huge historical marker teling us about Pocahantas's life and the Pumunkey interactions with the Jamestown settlement. We took a right and ended up at another historical marker by the beautiful Pumunkey river - it was Powhatan's gravesite! Powhatan - being Pocahantas' father, and king of all the tribes on the eastern region of what is now Virginia. It was amazingly peaceful and quiet and, well, beautiful! We hung out there for a very long time.

Then we decided to pray to bless the land with the great peace of God's kingdom. This was also a moment of intercession and healing for the land, since we found out that Powhatan ruled with intimidation and war. Then, during prayer, I saw ripples going out from the water and decided to act on it. So I asked Kevin to get a rock for me. And his eyes got wide and he said, "bro, I don't know why I did this, but about ten minutes ago I picked this up." and he held out a rock in his hand! So I threw it in the river and spoke a release of the kingdom of God into the land. Wow! I love it when we (the people of God) walk in unity like that!

Driving down to the powwow, the word come that God was taking His finger and drawing streams from the north to connect with streams from the east. The scriptural context is Ezekiel 47. And this is exactly what He did - he took us from the north and joined us, at least for a day (but probably more), to two streams from the east - the Mattaponi and the Pumunkey tribes. And as we reflected on the day, we realized that it wasn't an issue of us coming with agendas associated with evangelism or prophecy or healing prayer or any programs at all. Jesus has a different way of bringing the kingdom to these wonderful hosts of the nations - it's an issue of relationship, for they have as much to give to us as we have to give to them. And ultimately it will come with a handshake, of sorts, in the spirit. And in the end, the kingdom and the essence of Jesus, without compromise, will be communicated.

So until the next ride. Be free the Jesus way!

Chris

Well folks, with this recent Freedom Ride to New York, Kevin and I have learned that freedom comes at a dear price. Before I begin, friends, I want you to know that I am deliberately choosing to be open and honest at the myriad of emotions and experiences I experienced on this trip. They exposed a lot in me and truly humbled me. As for Kevin, he was the better man through it all, and I respect his heart even more now than before!

Our drive to the hotel started at 8:00 in the morning from Maryland. On the way up, we had a great time of praying and talking. Our initial intentions were to a) go to ground zero and pray for the healing of the land (my impression) and b) to go Jones' Beach (Kevin's impression). Also, during the week, I felt very strongly that there were angels hanging out, under cover, waiting to be activated there, and that Kevin and I were to keep our eyes open to see them and participate in whatever they were there for. I had also seen two small towers rising up from ground zero. They were black and did not bring "warm fuzzies" to my spirit...

While the trip was a long one, with many $'s worth of tolls, it was blessed. And then we were suddenly in Manhattan! Everything seemed ok until we very suddenly came upon the sea of humanity, advertised flesh and lights known as Broadway. It was a shock to our spirits, and both of us erupted in a chorus of tongues that lasted until we got through the other side. I think Kevin was thinking "what an opportunity!", which indeed it was, but I was thinking "get me outta here!"

We finally got to the hotel EXACTLY at checkin time, and took our time getting settled and praying a bit before we started out for our big plans to Manhattan. The directions were to take the shuttle to LaGuardia airport, then catch the M60 bus to the subway, then take the N subway to 42nd and Broadway (yikes!, but ok, Lord). When we got there, we waited a few minutes then hopped on the M60 only to find out that we needed bus cards. So we hopped off the bus to get the bus cards.

Then began the Big Detour that taught us both some very intense lessons.

The stand that used to be there for getting bus cards was closed down, so we had to take a shuttle to another terminal to get bus cards there. Once there, we found out that both stands at the airport were completely sold out of bus cards. Then began my own personal journey of frustration and confusion. We sat down at a table in the food court and prayed for the Lord's direction, and as I sat there, I looked at the news stand and over the threshold was a display that repeated a magazine cover with the letters IESUS, and while the magazine was not a Christian magazine, it looked like "Jesus" at first glance. Then I looked to the left and right of that display, and I saw the repeated magazine cover of SAVEUR. Hmmm. So I prayed a bit as Kevin left to check out things on his own.

Rewind to a few months ago - a lady had come to my church and spoken a Word that I was to begin writing poetry specifically for people. Since then, I've been kind of putting it into practice. So sitting there in front of this news stand, I began to write a poem:

When summer comes

the heart thirsts for a fresh drink of life

and in the throes of winter

the soul breathes for a blanket

to warm the freezing skin

but begins a true revealing

that spans both space and season

now see. now hear. now conceive.

Jesus is Saviour, with healing in his wings.

The thought, then, was to pass this along to someone at the newsstand. So in I went and found the salesman, and handed the poem to him. He read it, then handed it back to me. "You take." "No, it's for you!" "No, you take! This very critical. You give to 'nother body!" After a very uncomfortable moment of back-and-forth, I finally caved in, knowing that I had hit a brick wall. I took the piece of paper back.

While I was doing all this, Kevin had an encounter with a lady named Frida. They were able to communicate well, until he mentioned "Jesus", at which point she immediately shut down and walked away...

Our heads spinning from our less than fruitful encounters, and the strange feeling that we were living out the movie "Terminal" in real life, we wandered around the airport for a while. Again, Kevin was thinking opportunity, since this was about the most international place in the world, or at least in our own experience. Myself, I was beginning to think that the ever-present airport security was going to become concerned about two "religious" people wandering the airport. Admittedly, I was probably being paranoid, but I decided we needed to move on.

We eventually found out that the bus took coins in addition to bus cards, so we got our $4 worth of quarters and headed for the bus stop. Then Kevin remembered that some friends of his from college used to go to a middle eastern burrough in Queens called Jackson Heights, and the Q33 bus went there. By this time it was about 7:00, and the idea of going into Manhattan was looking less like a divine plan. Also, Jones Beach was not along any public tranportation stops and would take a very long and expensive cab ride.

So we hopped on the Q33 and went to Jackson Heights. By this time, we were both feeling really confused and I myself was feeling really exasperated by it all. People really were trying to be helpful, but every time we got directions from someone, the story on how to get around this massive city was always different!

But finally, we landed in Jackson Heights and found ourselves in Mid-East Town. It didn't quite hit me yet just where we were, but Kevin was amazed to see a Christian Bookstore. I just thought, "yeah, it's a Christian bookstore...?" We prayed for a bit, then decided to regroup again over dinner, and popped into a Pakistani restaurant. As we were eating, I decided to open my Bible and read Psalm 49, which seemed incredibly appropriate for this city... And then suddenly, I became strangely self consious of the fact that we were probably the only Christians in a restarant full of Muslims - many of which were wearing traditional clothing. Folks, I'm being painfully honest here, so please give me grace as I admit my weakness. But I was, for the first time in my life, suddenly intimidated and fearful of being a Christian! :-(

So I prayed in a low voice, "Lord, please protect us." Then Kevin picked up on it, too. Again, it may have been just me. Soon, though, Kevin got up and prayed out loud, for everyone to hear within earshot. "Lord Jesus! We call for your protection, in Jesus' name!" Every time he spoke our Lord's name, it was like a loud bell going off in my head, and my soul cringed so that eventually, I couldn't help but to shush him. And then the experience of Peter in the courtyard at Jesus' trial came over me. I'm now reminded of the song by Rez band:

What did you say, what did you do

when they asked you, who are you

did you tell them, who you know

did you her that rooster crow

how will you answer, where will you go

have you heard that rooster crow?

I immediately repented, but was really bummed that I had caved in to the fear. Thankfully, the Lord has been so faithful to restore me.

Finally, we finished our meal and went on our way. And then came, for me, the whole reason for the entire trip, at least as far as actual ministry was concerned: walking down the street came a young woman on crutches and dragging her legs behind her, and holding a styrofoam cup with one coin in it. My heart immediately exploded and broke at the same time. We were both there like white on rice (in a sea of brown rice). She had a look of fear on her face as we tried to speak with her. I then pulled out some money, and as I pulled it out, her eyes got really big. After I put the bill in the cup, I asked if we coud pray for her. But she didn't understand any English. We made hand gestures for prayer, but that didn't help either, so we just started praying for her. And then, when I said the word Jesus, a smile swept across her face! Wow! So we prayed a little more, but then we could tell she was getting uncomfortable, so we parted ways.

Next, we went back to the Christian bookstore to see if we could say an encouraging word to the owner. The shop was closed, so we just stood in front of the store and blessed it. As we were standing there, a lady was struggling with her broken grocery cart, and was fretting about being able to get on the bus with it. Even though we offered multiple times to help her, she kept saying, "no, that's ok"...? Kevin ended up helping her out anyway.

Then we went over to the subway station and just did some people watching, (and praying). When a lady with a hunched back walked by, we approached her to ask if we could pray for her. She very firmly shunned us, and that's when I realized something about this city: even the broken are so hard that they refuse help from the Lord! It's like trying to drill for water in a mountain of granite.

But I couldn't help remembering the young woman in the street who smiled at the name of Jesus, and all I wanted to do was intercede for her. As Kevin had so wisely understood all the way back when we got on the bus to get here, this city was warring to suck us into a place of confusion and busy-ness along with the rest of the masses. Here it is as Kevin puts it:

"My first thought (as we began to meander through the city) is the difficulty ministry within the strong hold of the NY fast-paced, independent, self-centered mindset, etc. mindset.

We were tested in whether we were going to surrender to that way of thinking & moving, or quiet ourselves to hear what God would speak (it hits me that you noticed the paper thumb tacked to the floor of my car with Psalm 85:8-9 on it)"

I had focus, now, and wanted to stay in that focus. So we ended up back at the hotel and went to our respective rooms to pray.

The next day, Kevin told me this really powerful dream. Here it is as he remembers it:

"I'll try to remember as much as I can; here goes: On Sunday morning I was awakened @ 7 or 7:30 by a dream, initially that was a miracle in & of itself, due to the fact that I had been very tired & gone to bed @ 1 AM the night before ... the dream was a very vivid memory "me, being a little kid and running through the fields, doing cartwheels over over rocks & falling in a heap right next to this other playmate with whom I was running, we were all dizzy & laughing ... it seems that shortly thereafter, I looked to my left & saw that I had fallen down on the edge of a high cliff with rock towers scattering all throughout the canyon floor (looked like Brice Canyon to me) ... these towers were reaching up to the level of where me and my playmate were & I was feeling scared to try to jump from tower to tower ... I held on tight to the spot where I had fallen & then looked across to see some little kids ... they were freely and fearlessly leaping from tower to tower all across the open canyon ... the oldest one slipped once and ended up being caught by the LORD in His safety net of everlasting arms ... then I woke up ... I was overwhelmed with gratitude for how God does catch us so that we need not be afraid to step out in faith ..."

Friends, this is the way God wants us to be! If we have the hearts of children, and remain oblivious to the dangers around us, then we will be immune to danger. Lord help me - help us grow to become children!

After we left the hotel, we stopped by the American Indian Arts Council in Brooklyn, but nobody was there. And we spent some time at Sunset Hills park. Again, more people watching. And then we were on our way back home. At one of the rest stops, we talked to a young man who was working a sunglass stand, and told him what we were doing on these Freedom Rides, and why. I also told him about the young woman in Jeckson Heights. And then we prayed with him for his cousin who was in jail.

Here's a thought from Kevin that seems to hit the nail on the head as to the nature of this trip:

"My next thought is about the call to lay down our lives in passionate & sacrificial love (b/c He first loved us), loving so much to take such super-human risks (b/c He shall catch us when we fall ... even when there is great fear (i.e.: in Jackson Heights, or any part of the cold streets of NYC) ... it seemed that we were able to hilariously give and sacrifice in some measure (i.e.: with that lady named "Frida" that I met in the LaGuardia airport, loved on and saw her get offended by Jesus, etc."

So in the end, New York was as much a Mad Hatter's teacup ride as it was a Freedom Ride. We had opportunities for His kingdom to be conveyed. And sometimes we conveyed them well, and sometimes we didn't convey them so well. But in the end, the lessons we learned were just as powerful as the kingodom we conveyed. Did angels get activated in the city? I honestly wouldn't know. Did ground zero get prayed over? No, but we went to the heart of the culture that fostered it, and were able to bring a smile at the wonderful name of Jesus to a young woman who was lost in helplessness and hopelessness. And Kevin and I were able to get to know each other more as brothers than ever before!

I'd say it was an AWESOME trip!

So until the next ride, God bless you, and get the heart of a child!

Chris

PS. Glenn was going to be joining us, but his Mom has fallen ill. No need to go into details, but as you are moved by the Lord, please pray for great miracles to be manifest in the healing of Glenn's Mom! Thanks.

We'll be heading up to New York Saturday Morning and arriving just in time for Jesus to bring live, love and healing to the Big Apple! One of the stops will be ground zero to pray for the healing of the country, and for the healing of that specific piece of land.

The Freedom Ride intent was to ake every weekend in March and go different places. It didn't work out that way, but there are still a couple trips in store. (Or at least, that's the idea.)

A lot of people are thinking New York, so that's one of our destinations. Stay tuned for dates.

Also, we're looking to maybe connect with an Indian reservation sometime in the summer.

That's all for now!

That's right. Week two is a dial down from last week. Another rider and myself are going to chill local and see if we can bring the heart of Jesus to the city of DC.

Also, stay tuned for an upcoming ride to New York. It seems that other riders keep asking me about that city, so it looks like eventually we'll be headed up that way for a weekend!

The Philadelphia Freedom ride was a time packed with good lessons, great words from the Father, and a LOT of walking!

Thomas, Stephanie, Kevin and I left Union Station with eagerness and expectation, not to be disappointed by God. We took our seats on the train, but soon made our way to the cafe car. As we were talking, Kevin took the first risk to stop a man walking by to the next car. The word Kevin had was that God was going to be giving him a platform to speak to others. Unfortunately, the man was, in his own words, a “humanist,” and didn't really seem to take in the word. But that was ok, because as I write this, it seems to me that although people may not see it or walk in it, God has a destiny that He wants to convey to them. Mercifully, that destiny remains on the shelf until we come to Him and agree to follow that destiny.

But that inspired the rest of us to stick up our antennae and notice our surroundings. Soon a conductor walked by, and I had a flashback of this TV show I used to watch - the Wild Wild West with Adam West as the main character. I didnÕt necessarily connect that with the conductor that walked by at the time, but began to wonder about it later, when Thomas saw that him in an orchestra. So we began to put things together and went to the conductor and asked him about these visions to see if they connected with him. They totally did not ring any bells with him. So we just settled in to chatting with him about life on the train. The conversation with him and his co-worker lasted about 10 minutes and we went back to our seats. But this lesson stuck with me, hopefully for the rest of my life: prophetic words are only vehicles for conveying GodÕs heart to the one receiving the word. As messengers, we must carry His heartbeat to the recipient as much as the message itself! 1 Corinthians 13 says it clearly: If I prophesy and understand all but have not love, I am nothing. A song I remember from college is a good thing to pray: Jesus Reduce Me to Love! And at the same time as I was hearing this lesson, Thomas heard the word about the orchestra at a deeper level and spoke it to the conductor when we arrived at Philadelphia. The conductor still wasnÕt impacted, but Thomas was confident that it would come back to the man when he had time to think of it later, trusting that the scripture is true that “God's word doesn't return void”.

Once we got off the train, we went to Independence Hall. This seemed to be a clear direction from the Lord, even from a week ago. Once we got there, Kevin and Thomas immediately connected with a couple of men on the streets and delivered some good words that seemed to connect with them. In the

meantime, Stephanie and I sat on the park bench by the Hall, just getting our bearings and listening to the Lord. I was getting a great word, in general, concerning freedom. And Stephanie was getting a strong sense that she needed to go inside the building. So we walked to the ticket center, but found out that all the tickets were already given out. But Stephanie only became more adamant about the need to go inside. So we went back to the Hall, and I decided we would pray for Stephanie and see what happened.

Soon, we were with Stephanie next to the building and agreeing with Stephanie as she was soon launched into VERY intense intercession for the country. Among the many words, she called for a healing and rebuilding of the foundations of the country! It was truly an anointed time, albeit a

little wild and wacky as people passed by. But hey - wacky is good, and people need to be shaken out of the day to day normality of life!

Immediately on the heels of that, we connected with Steve, referred to us by Barbara at the Gate. Steve is a young brother called to the various youth subcultures in America. And his passion is in fashion photography, which we truly hope the Lord will bless him to step into soon. It was great to hang

out with him and pray as he took us to South St., where these various youth cultures hang out and mix: goths, punks, retro, etc.

On the way there, we passed by an old graveyard at St. PeterÕs Church. Kevin and I were drawn in, and we immediately felt a heaviness over the land. As Kevin read the historical sign, I laid my hand on one of the gravestones (most of them were so old and weathered that the markings were completely worn away), and began to sing in tongues in order to bring a little relief to the land. Eventually, I joined Kevin, and found out why the land was exceptionally heavy: Seven tribal chiefs were buried there after contracting smallpox. These chiefs were defeated at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794 after a territorial dispute that couldn't be reconciled peacefully. After about five minutes, I felt an urgency to pull ourselves away, because intercession over that place would take MUCH more time than we could afford to invest in a weekend where God wanted us to touch many more people with His love.

Before setting out, though, we spent some time praying for a wave of humility to come over the country and, as Steve called it the breaking of the “I's” over the land, as this country's society has become preoccupied with things like: “I have a MasterÕs Degree in,..... I have a job doing,.... I have a family, a house,,,, I, I, I....”

Next, we stopped at a Starbucks on South St. for a much needed rest, and for an experiment I had in mind for about a week before we arrived. Thomas, Kevin and Steve left to check out the scene, and Stephanie and I hung out at Starbucks, were I loaded up a gift card for those in line behind me until

the money on the card ran out. For about 15-20 minutes, a city with an exceptionally grumpy air about it was suddenly challenged with a pleasant surprise on South St. People were in shock that a total stranger had paid for their coffee that day! Even the cashier asked me about four times: “are you sure?!” Nothing profound happened. No conversions. No healings. But it was a lot of fun to see the surprise on peoples faces as they left the place with a free cup of coffee.

Then we walked to the very western end of South St. and came upon a spray paint artist, who was painting beautiful works of planets, mountains, and white trees as he painted to the ethereal sounds of rave. Steven and Stephanie talked with him a bit about the Lord. Nothing really kingdom happened then and there, but Steve made a local contact and possibly something more may come of it in the future.

Next, we took some time to regroup and we decided to head back to Independence Hall (making a point to avoid the graveyard on the way). At which time Steven headed on his way alone. By the time we got back to the Hall, it was dark and after a rest and new direction-making, we headed toward another St. Arbucks at 3rd and Arch St. But on the way, we ended up ducking in for a Philly Cheese Steaks and Pizza. In the middle of dinner, Stephanie got a huge burden to intercede for the person in the table next to us. And we collectively gave our waitress a huge tip and a list of encouraging words. Lord, back us up this week with those words and confirm to her how much You love her!

After dinner, we called it a day on the streets of Philly and took a cab to our hotel. Along the way, I decided to take up a conversation with the driver. Eventually, I got around to telling him what we were doing there, and Kevin followed up with a word that God would be sending him to other countries to speak His heart there, as well as in His new home of America. With a huge grin, he actually beamed with excitement over a word from Jesus! And with that, our day was finished - and so were we! Whew!

The next morning, Kevin gave another word to the waiter at breakfast, which earned him a free bottle of water. :-)

We arrived back in DC at about 2:30 in the afternoon, exhausted and spinning from a whirlwind of cool experiences of randomly investing the kingdom of God into Philadelphia.

And now for what God spoke to me at Independence Hall Saturday afternoon:

Many have called Independence Hall the birthplace of freedom. But I believe God corrected me by saying it was just the place where this country's freedom was CONCEIVED. Words on paper and signatures are just that. But unless they were backed up with the the many battles that were fought and

the the living of generations who built the country together, that conception would have miscarried. No, the birth is found in the mess of working that freedom out with a resolve to BE free and to REMAIN free.

Isn't that the way it is with us, in a way? God promises, has even purchased our freedom, and the purchase cannot be taken away. But the freedom must be realized through the daily living of working out of faith. Apprehending this freedom is driven through our resolve to lay hold of that for which Christ laid hold of us - love. freedom. destiny. abundant life, to mention just a few.

Until next week's ride - may God bless you with His heart over you and those around you that He wants so dearly for you to love. And may He bless you with a passion for freedom!

On the weekend of March 3rd and 4th, members of the Freedom Ride will be going to Philadelphia.

The idea of going to this city has been coming to us independently, and once we discovered this, we decided to go for it!

The following is a vision Angie Kenny had when we were praying for the Freedom Ride:

I saw a group Angels being sent on assignment for Freedom ride - an angel of healing, an angel of harvest, an angel of guidance, there were two other angels and it seemed they were there for protection. The two protection angels were very large and had swords.

Then I heard a voice say, "Set the captives free."