Bob & Bonnie Horning

Urgent Call to Prayer & Conference Call:
Tomorrow November 6, 2009 8:00pm EST

We have entered into a time in American history where the Church no longer has the luxury of peace after great victories. Today we celebrate, with humility, the stand for traditional marriage that the people of Maine made. We believe the prayers of the saints and the votes of conscience helped turn the tide. ABC news made this statement “The tide of extending marriage rights to same-sex couples - which has swept across New England in recent months - has stopped at Maine.”

We Face a Crisis

But now, two days after this moral victory, we face a crisis that many believe could be the turning point from a society of free men and women to a society under the economic and moral control of a government hostile to Christian values. Nancy Pelosi’s healthcare bill, according to Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, “Is a 1,990 page monstrosity that will mandate healthcare coverage penalizing those who choose no coverage, pay for abortion change the tax laws giving benefits for same sex partners and create more than 111 new boards, bureaucracies, commissions, and programs. This will cost at least 1.3 trillion dollars.”

Monthly Abortion Premium

Yesterday, U.S. House of Representatives Minority leader, John Boenher, presented a clear statement on abortion being federally funded in this healthcare bill – Section 213
“A monthly abortion premium will be charged of all enrollees in the government-run plan, as well those who select plans that have abortion coverage through the Exchange. The premium will be paid into an U.S. Treasury account and these federal funds will be used to pay for the abortion services.”

Pro-Choice to Pro-Life

At the same time, a Planned Parenthood Director in Texas has experienced a radical conversion from pro-choice to pro-life and her story is being heralded all across the nation on the news. In addition, the national public opinion has shifted dramatically across the board to pro-life. It seems ironic that this administration is preparing to inject abortion into the very veins of our whole economic and healthcare system.

Contact Congressman and Senators

Nancy Pelosi is seeking to drive this bill to a vote on Saturday. What can we do? Planned Parenthood Action Fund President, Cecile Richards wrote to her supporters rejoicing that, “every version of the bills out there right now is free of the dangerous amendments anti-choice members of congress tried to attach to healthcare reform.” She claimed, “more than 18,000 phone calls” for Planned Parenthood contacted Congress. EVERYONE MUST CONTACT THEIR CONGRESSMAN AND SENATORS IMMEDIATELY AND VOICE THEIR CONCERNS TO THIS PROPOSED HEALTHCARE LEGISLATION.

Divine Intervention

This crisis demands divine intervention. We must pray and fast. Esther’s fast gave a king a sleepless night and the Persian death decree was changed in three days. People across America fasted in some measure for twenty-one (21) days for the vote in Maine. Was God involved in the victory in Maine? With all our hearts we believe the answer is yes. Some reporters in Maine were saying in the last moments that same-sex marriage was upheld, but a “sudden change” took place. If we pray, God could give wavering pro-life Democrats and Republicans a sleepless night or a dream and turn their hearts for LIFE.

Night of Petition

The Bible shouts to us across the ages “we have not because we ask not”. Therefore, on November 6th, we are calling a Friday “Night of Petition” prior to the potential vote on Saturday November 7th. Join Mat Staver, Ron Luce, Tony Perkins, Lou Engle, and other key leaders at 8:00pm EST with thousands of concerned believing citizens for a national prayer conference call to cry out to God for mercy and ask for the restraining of this unrighteous legislation.

Conference Call Dial in number: 218-486-1400

Participant Pass code: 67107#

Time zones:
8:00pm EST
7:00pm CST
6:00pm MST
5:00pm PST

Lou Engle
The Call, Inc.

I chose today to finish my testimony series. Today is signifcant for 2 different reasons, 1st of which is, today I turn 4 years old in the Lord. Just 4 short years ago today, I awoke never expecting to meet the Creator of the entire universe, nor did I expect to be born a second time. And yet, regardless of my head knowledge and in spite of my beliefs, my heart was changed on this day, a 180 degree change. I will share the 2nd reason at the end.

Throughout our first year of walking with God, we went to work on our marriage which was badly damaged and behind closed doors was not that great. That has been restored and we are together in ways now that we could only imagine, or I should say Bonnie only imagined for many years. I really only wanted a quiet peaceful marriage which is fantasy land. I could write volumes on what we went through and it was traumatic, dramatic and more interesting than a soap opera but I'll just say it's always an ongoing process. My single biggest gain in our walk has been to really get to know my wife and partner. The biggest help to our marriage was reading Discovering the Mind of a Woman.

Around 2 years later, an event happened that radically changed us even more. Our eldest daughter, Gretchen, who was off at Columbia International University, Columbia, SC for her freshman year, called us to inform us there was an accident. While playing basketball with some boys, BOYS!, one kid came down with a rebound and fell into her knee. She had to stop playing and was having difficulty walking on it. The next day in the cafeteria, the knee totally gave out on her and she fell in a heap in front of everyone. They needed permission to go see a doctor. After seeing the doctor, he ordered a series of MRIs and diagnosed her with a totally torn ACL, with inconclusive but probable MCL and miniscus damage. Her knee in athletic terms was blown out. No good. We were informed that these things don't and can't heal without reconstructive surgery. She was gung ho on having the surgery and we were less enthusiastic about someone cutting on our little girl's knee. We urged her to just keep it wrapped and get herself home for the holidays and we could look into it more.

She came home for Christmas break and things were contentious between us. This injury was putting a wedge in our relationship. We searched God's heart and held onto the healing promises in His Word. At that time, the church we attended was what is referred to as a "Seeker Friendly church" and we never heard much on miracles or healings. We heard one story in our prayer circle of a woman who had a large mass discovered in her abdomen that mysteriously disappeared the next week after coming to the elders for prayer. We held onto that while Gretchen was insistent on God wanting her to have surgery. We were at loggerheads over the matter.

She came home with MRIs in hand and we asked if she would go to a surgeon up here that we knew and trusted. She agreed and we went to see our area's top orthopedic surgeon. He is well known for "doing" all the local top athletes in our area. After meeting him, he confirmed the other surgeon's diagnosis and assured us it was a simple procedure that he's done thousand's of times and with alot of prehab and rehab she should be able to do everything she always did before. He also added that she should be fitted for a $1200 brace and that this was the start of arthritis in her knee and there was nothing that could prevent that from starting and growing over the coming years now. Nice, real nice.

It was a quiet ride home. Gretchen was happy about it, we were very sad. I credit Bonnie with sticking to what she heard God promise which was, He could heal her. We left with prehab instructions and a time schedule of the procedure which we would schedule for the 1st week of her summer vacation to give her all the summer to rehab the knee. Still, Bonnie insisted we keep going to the Throne of Grace. Gretchen is a wonderful daughter and honors her parents so, the first Sunday we approached our elders at church and did as James tells us to do. Nothing. We took her to a friend who has had some healings in her history, we prayed and worshipped and nothing. Well, nothing immediate that is.

With break over, she went back to school, a little miffed at us for sticking to our guns even though we said we'd cover the surgery costs... We kept praying each and every day for her. In the meantime, we were hearing more at our church speaking against the gifts of healing, raising the dead, casting out demons was really not for today and it was coming against things we were reading such as Smith Wigglesworth, Bill Johnson and Heidi Baker books as well as we just knew these things were still happening, we'd witnessed some at other places we visited. (We were so hungry for the Lord we went to services of all kinds as well as our regular church-We watched Christian TV and heard messages preached at a rate averaging 1 a day) We were on fire and knew what we knew.

I remember the trip to take her to school and we had stopped at MorningStar Fellowship Church, Rick Joyner's church in Fort Mill, SC. There was a man named Cliff walking through the church between rows of seats before the service and it appeared he was praying or just in his own world. He paused in front of us for a second and had this glistening in his eyes like I've never seen in real life before. Almost like he was about to cry, but he had the most peaceful look and countenance about him. He just said "Hello, where are you from?", with a smile, and we started talking with him a little. We told him why we were visiting and such. He then looked at Gretchen and said and I'll never forget this as long as I live, "I think I have a Word from God for you, would you like to hear what He has to say?" We nodded approval and he said this to Gretch: "You are on a journey right now to find your own faith. Not your parent's faith, not your grandparent's but your own faith. You will find more than you ever thought you would and it will change your life as you know it." That was a good word right there and it really rang true.

These words came back in a huge way on March 26th, 2008. Just the night before while Bonnie and I were praying together, I noticed she had Gretchen's MRIs out in front of her and she said we need to pray tonight for this to be done. After we prayed for awhile I heard her say, "Thank you Father for healing our little girl's knee." I remember saying something like -that's a pretty confident statement. She said, "God just told me it would be done." I have to confess at that moment I was resigned to the surgery too and did not share 100% what she felt.

Then the phone call came and we heard Gretchen say... "You're not going to believe this..." Bonnie started crying immediately and said "Yes I will." She then spilled the whole glorious story to us of how it was prayer day and her roommate Betty told her she thought she heard God tell her if she prayed over her knee that He would heal it totally. She told us how they had no idea what to do or pray and consulted Betty's mother who told them "Find some oil and read James to pray the prayer of faith over her" They could only find vegetable oil in the kitchen and went to their room, locked the door and started praying. Within minutes she said she felt a searing heat hit her knee, go all the way up and down her leg and side. Then she heard a voice say... "Try it out." This is where some people just have a hard time, but that morning she had great difficulty walking up and down stairs without her knee giving out, there was a constant swelling from fluids built up and well it was a mess. So after hearing- try it out... she stood up, fine. She walked a little, again fine and no pain. Then she heard "run". So they went out in the hallway and she ran slowly and then gradually worked up to a sprint. She heard "jump on it"... so she started jumping, then planting and cutting and all the things she couldn't do for the last 6 months of her life. The swelling was gone, there was no pain, she had total control over her knee... IT WAS A BONAFIDE, INSTANTANEOUS MIRACLE! We hadn't heard her so excited and happy for so long. It turns out that when Betty visited our church, she was hit with a vision, she was with Jesus when He told her to look at her hands showing her how her hands glowed and were hot and that she had to go back now and share this with her friends. She was so confused by it that she never told anyone until now.

Since that day, each and every one in our family has experienced, first hand, His amazing healing power. Bonnie had a frozen shoulder healed, I lost bone spurs in both heels and one shoulder as well as a word of knowledge given to me about an ear infection I had for a few days, and was healed on the spot, Jessica had a planter's wart just fall off with no treatment other than prayer and it has not returned. His love and power are amazing.

I'll wrap this whole thing up with one of the greatest miracles of restoration I might ever see and I still believe the greatest miracle there is, a transformed life... and the 2nd reason I chose to post this today. My most excellent friend John Hubers' birthday is today. Back when I told him about what had happened to me on this day in 2005, I don't remember him telling me and I think he kept it to himself, but the date stuck in his mind because of it being his natural birthday. It made a mundane story suddenly grab ahold of him and make him take notice. Even though we were close friends at one time, I couldn't tell you his exact birthday. After hearing my testimony, the Holy Spirit started His work within John. It's a process that each born-again Christian has gone through if we really care to go back and examine it. Just last month, I made a trip out to visit with John at his home in Cedar, MN. I traveled 19 hours each way by car with our mutual friend Rich. The same one who actually unknowingly got my heart opened a crack for the Holy Spirit to start working on me. I only knew him through John. Full cycle. Does anybody else think it's improbable if not impossible, that I would spend this much time getting to know someone who just 4 years ago wouldn't have spent a dime on? Even funnier is that John always said he wished we'd get to know Rich and Karen better. Well now we do and I am thrilled to count Rich and Karen as very close friends also. So here we were now, on our way to see John together for a long weekend. (By the way, Bonnie saw this happening before the idea ever came up as well... when she hears something, I listen) While visiting John I got to tell him how I owe my whole salvation and eternity to meeting him. Basically, he saved my life without even knowing it and now, I owe my life to he and Rich. The funny thing is Rich used to talk to John all the time about the Gospel but it just never made a lot of sense to John. The whole story came full circle in this moment in time. The plowman overtaking the reaper... Here we are now, 3 men who, only by God, came together to form a 4 strand cord that won't soon be broken. We were all hellraisers at one time, and now we shake hell's rusty gates. So this last picture is for you John... until I see you skiing again, and I know I will.

Not proud of who we were... just building our testimonies.

One last note: At this writing, John is now walking totally unassisted and is working part time... that's full time for most people, but with facing one more surgery in December to take out all the metal in his pelvis, they insisted on him not working full time yet. He still has a great deal of pain but he's the toughest guy I know and is dealing with it along with the loss of Judy. The doctors originally said he'd be in the hospital 8-9 months before he'd be ready for a wheelchair, he walked out with a walker in 10 weeks (remember he was in a coma for the 1st 4) and back working in 14 weeks. He had a lot of prayer covering him... again, during the early days following the accident we kept hearing reports that they weren't sure if he'd make it... Bonnie said she heard he would on day one and I felt it also... I believed it then and to see the results is simply stunning. He's slowly putting his life back together and now has all eternity in which to look forward to. On this my Spiritual birthday and John's 52nd, I state for all to read, without the Lord putting John and then Rich in my path, I still might be on the wide road to eternal damnation. I can not adequately put into words how awesome I feel today compared to just 4 years ago.

Colossians 1:19-20

¹⁹For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Previously:

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1253847/a-love-that-restores-part-1-the-shallow-end

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1264230/a-love-that-restores-part-2-going-deeper-

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1273711/a-love-that-restores-part-3-the-truth-hurts-

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1275588/a-love-that-restores-part-4-when-heaven-and-earth-collide

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1294072/a-love-that-restores-part-5-the-restoration-begins-

Today Judy's body will be officially laid to rest in Minneapolis, MN. This post is in honor of a life that touched many lives... including ours. She is terribly missed here and will be remembered until the day we will all see her again. We loved you Judy. We love you John, Lonna and Justin. Although not there in person, we are there in Spirit.

Past posts concerning Judy:http://bit.ly/3gRgwn

http://bit.ly/3wYrL2

The Lord has given me a song for John as he teetered on the brink of life and death in his comatose state and then afterwards as he struggled to come to grips with this tragic event. I'd like to share the roughed out work in progress lyrically today.

This is for all those left to ponder all the reasons why bad things happen to good people...

There You Are (The Bright and Morning Star) Oct. 2009
For my eternal friend, John

Verse 1:
There is a time, when all we cherish may become lost.
When trying to recover, we aren’t able to cover the cost.
There You are, There You are.
When there’s nothing we can do within our own power
and all we can see is misery in this lowly hour...
There You are, There You are.

Chorus:
There You are, in the eye of the storm,
There You are, where everything is calm
There You are, There You are...
There You are, the 4th man in the furnace,
There You are, Refiner’s fire and will not burn us.
There You are, The Bright and Morning Star.

Verse 2:
Walking through the valley of the shadow of death with no end in sight.
Even though dark, where there’s a shadow, we know there is light,
There You are, There You are.
When we’re trying to push water up a very steep hill,
It never seems to work, until we become still,
and There You are, there You are.

Chorus:
There You are, in the eye of the storm,
There You are, where everything is calm
There You are, There You are...
There You are, the 4th man in the furnace,
There You are, Refiner’s fire and will not burn us.
There You are, The Bright and Morning Star.

There You are, everywhere we look around,
There You are, patiently waiting to be found.
There You are, never too far...
There You are, in a newborn baby’s face,
There You are, You help us find that secret place.
There You are, The Bright and Morning Star.

John 11:34-36 NIV

³⁴"Where have you laid him?" he asked.
"Come and see, Lord," they replied.

³⁵Jesus wept.

³⁶Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"

Even though Jesus knew that Lazarus would be raised from the dead in just a few seconds, He still wept with those who were mourning. He still weeps with us today, as we do. See how He still loves us.

Calling all married men: Do you really want to satisfy your wives beyond their wildest expectations and gain the most awesome respect for you?

Calling all single men: Do you want to know what women really want in a husband?

Then you must read:

Discovering the Mind of a Woman
By: Ken Nair
Thomas Nelson / 1995 / Paperback

I don't recommend this as light reading. This is for men who really are sincere in wanting to know exactly what God's purpose and heart is for marriage. Our good friend and counselor from church first advised me to read this and she caught my attention by saying, when I read this book, I was wondering how he got inside my mind and told me exactly what I was thinking and how I felt. That intrigued me. Now I can't say I've read it all once... I've read it twice and I keep going back to it for a refresher. This is more like a reference book that if you embrace it, will be the best thing since the Bible for improving/restoring a marriage or preparing you for one. I'm still boycotting Amazon because of selling porn openly online, so I suggest you buy it here. I must warn those who have a prideful heart, you will throw this away after the 1st chapter or two. This is only for Christlike men who really want to have the strongest ally known to man, a good wife.

IF YOU, LIKE ME, BELIEVE THIS COUNTRY NEEDS CHANGE, AND NOT THE CHANGE THAT'S BEEN RAPIDLY HAPPENING IN THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS... PLEASE READ THIS AND CONSIDER WHAT YOU CAN AND WILL DO TO EFFECT CHANGE.

I've been leaning towards getting involved in some way and have reached my tipping point. I'm getting involved, I hope you will too. Your voice is important and should be heard. Please read and consider this for your own future... thank you- Bob

October 22, 2009

The Oak Initiative. This is just a personal brief on the basic purpose of The Oak Initiative and how you might become a part of this important new movement. First, let me give you a brief overview of the purpose of OAK.

We are uncompromisingly Christian. Our top priority is to, as needed, wake up, revive, inspire, equip, mobilize and deploy Christians to engage in the important issues of our times, being the salt and light that we are called to be. The following is a brief on how we expect to do this, in order of the above:

• Wake up: This sounding the alarm, illuminating the important issues of our times, and the Christian responsibility to be engaged in them.

• Revive: Without revival and the basic devotion to Judeo Christian moral values in America, there can be no enduring change. We are now seeing the first signs of another Great Awakening in America, and we are devoted to aiding it in every way we can.

• Inspire: Recent studies have revealed that over half of Americans claim to be born again Christians, but only about 3% have a Christian world view, which means to view the world through the perspective of Christ as revealed in His word. We have been given the answer to every human problem—the gospel of the kingdom, and boldly proclaiming it will be our fundamental devotion, but we must help Christians embrace it first.

• Mobilize: Grassroots mobilization of Christians is our basic strategy. Already we can communicate quickly with nearly a half million Christian leaders, and this number is growing fast. We will be appointing Oak Initiative directors in all 50 states, and eventually in every city and town in America, with our ultimate goal to have an Oak Initiative presence in every neighborhood in America.

• Equip: Equipping the saints for ministry is the basic mandate for all true ministry as declared in Eph.4. Everyone we equip we will help to become an equipper of others until every member of the body of Christ knows their part, and is fulfilling it. Our means for helping to do this are already extensive, but the most basic strategy of this is simply to fulfill the Great Commission by making disciples, not just converts.

• Deploy: Our goal is to effectively mobilize believers to address every significant issue that we have a biblical mandate to address on every level: local, state, and national.

How will we do all of this?
Our purpose is not so much to do this, as it is to wake up and empower the church to do this. The body of Christ is at this time the most powerful entity on the planet, even as divided and fractured as we are. With the unity of just a small fraction of the body, we have all of the human and other resources to do all of the above, and to do it well. However, the body of Christ has one resource that no amount of technology, money, or numbers of people can compete with—the Holy Spirit. Though we will use technology, and these other resources, and we have practical strategies for this, our main strategy is to follow the Captain of the hosts of the Lord, the Head of the body, Jesus, who leads us by the Holy Spirit.

How can you be a part?
We need members, and we expect all members to in some way, and on some level, become leaders. The leaders we're seeking are not just those with natural abilities, positions, and resources, but those who are great followers—of the Lord. If this is your devotion we need you. You can join now on our website, or by filling out and sending in the simple application you received with this letter along with the $100 first year dues to cover the materials that you will be receiving. We will begin sending you the practical details of the strategies outlined above, and how you can get involved right away in this movement.

Why now?
America stands at one of the most critical crossroads in history. Our descent into spiritual and moral darkness has accelerated greatly in recent times, but the greatest of all revivals took place in just such conditions. It will take the same kind of boldness, courage, endurance, and sacrifice to save our country as it did to found it.

As the prophet Daniel wrote in 11:31-32, even in the most evil times when "the abomination of desolation" was being set up, "those who know their God will display strength, and take action." These are the ones we are seeking. Our King has already prevailed. We will no doubt have great battles ahead, but it is a great honor to be called to fight the good fight of faith for His truth, and we have the unshakable testimony of His word that He will always lead us in His triumph.

If your heart resonates with these basic issues, we invite you to join. You will begin to receive a weekly letter, and other materials from us. As we build our directory, you will be able to get in touch with others of a like mind in your area or region, and strategies for mobilizing and leading an OAK chapter will soon be sent to you. In the near future, there will be OAK Initiative seminars and conferences you will be invited to as well.

For additional information, we are posting basic informational and instructional videos and downloads on our website at www.oakinitiative.org. Again, thank you for your interest in OAK, and we do hope to see you soon in the ranks of this emerging new force that is resolving to fight the good fight of faith together in our times.


Yours in Him,

Rick Joyner
President
The OAK Initiative