500+ Came out to Wheeler Auditorium Wednesday, August 25th to Celebrate Life in Berkeley!

View Event Pictures/Program Flow on Ficker (click here)

An Open Letter to Jesus Movements at UCLA, UC Berkeley, ...and Beyond

“More Straw for Your Bricks, 

…More Fuel for Your Fire”

Royce Hall ablaze --- "light the night with build buildings of light!"

Below is a v2.0 re-post from my: "Out of Berkeley" TypePad blog -dc

Dear Campus Leaders @ UCLA & Cal Happy New Year and “heads up” brothers and sisters!  For a variety of reasons, I think UCLA, UC Berkeley and every major university in North America will probably be see the most spiritually motivated stream of college students trickling back on your campuses in recent history.  During the month of January more than 50,000 fired-up college & university students begin to return to their respective schools after coming off over a dozen life-transforming “Great Co-Missional” conferences held throughout the US & Canada.  Keep your ears attuned, your eyes peeled, and your hearts open.  Be ready to reeive them and support the variety of beautiful visions Jesus has probably given them.

I heard from a little bird [the first week of January] that UCLA Cru was holding a Vision Night Wednesday night --- So, I felt led to pray for UCLA a bit today.  As I did I this extraordinary little book “Fireseeds of Spiritual Awakening”  by Dan Hayes came to mind --- http://crupress.campuscrusadeforchrist.com/discipleship/fireseeds-of-spiritual-awakening --- I've seen this book spark and fan more long-lasting fires amongst college students over the past 20 years --- than any other piece of contemporary revival literature in circulation (now in it’s 3rd edition).

I pray that every campus leader at UCLA & Cal will have their eyes opened to the possibility that 2010 will probably not be "business as usual" on American college campuses --- I want to encourage everyone to at least check out the mind-blowing first chapter manifesto of “Fireseeds of Spiritual Awakening” by Dan Hayes - now available free online: http://crupress.campuscrusadeforchrist.com/files/products/fireseeds.pdf   Be amazed at the history you are standing in.  Consistently over the past 2 1/2 years as I've seen God use this unusual little book inspire an ever widening circle of student leaders to humble themselves and pray --- it offers real hope and solid direction for preparing for revival on your campus --- it shares vital reasons why leaders need to not just pray by themselves, but to invite others to pray with them --- plus good solid Biblical examples of revival and cameo's of young people throughout church history who prayed for the manifest presence of God to fall down on their campus and community, ...and It did!

Lord Jesus, fan into flame the gift of God within all the Jesus movements at UCLA & Cal.  Rally small praying bands of disciples to come together this new year to work and pray with You "in one accord".  I pray that the UCLA & UC Berkeley campuses will see more Jesus movements break out in 2010 than ever before in their schools history (note: both campuses have a rich spiritual history of revivals that have broken out on campus amongst students, ...and impacted the entire world).  Fan into full flame the gift of God within today's Bruins & Bears.  Bless and empower the Body of Christ at UCLA & Cal; especially anoint their current and emerging campus leaders to be "fireseeds of spiritual awakening" (and may their adult and young adult staff workers and campus pastors support them in their endeavors).

Lord, send more straw for their bricks and pour more fuel on their fire!  Save this generation from being petty and shallow and short-lived.  May today's UCLA & Cal students radiate the radical love and power, and wisdom of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, ...2 Timothy 1:7 to this generation: "power, love, and wisdom", in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, Amen!

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with UCLA & Cal,

-Daniel Curran, LeadCatalyst, GradCru at Cal
...CCC's graduate student ministry at UC Berkeley

Epilogue: My favorite all time book on discipleship is the revolutionary work "Master Plan of Evangleism" by Robert Coleman, ...someone turned me on to it during my time at Biola --- Margee studied it with a band of other Cal students during her time at Berkeley and God used it to capture her heart for spiritual multiplication..  This little 8 chapter book is steeped in the Gospels and has inspired and mobilized thousands of campus leaders since the outbreaks of the Jesus Movements in the 1970's up until today: http://crupress.campuscrusadeforchrist.com/files/products/masterplan.pdf

 The Campinile aglow at night, ...what if it said, "Go Prayers!"

 

...It's Really, Really All About Love!

"It's All About Love! ...Revisiting and Reconsidering Jesus' Great Co-Mission." (aka "Reformations of a Campus Missionary..." ) <>< Photo of Francisco & Treasure Island as seen under the left arm of the cross; Golden Gate Bridge & Berkeley under the right arm). -taken March 21st, 2008.

So, I took a ½ day with the Lord in the Berkeley Hills on Good Friday with 2 of my favorite Berkeley students. I found a fallen tree to lean against while they found spots "a stones throw away" from each other and me. It's amazing what 2 hours alone with Jesus can do for your soul.

With a million dollar view of SF Bay I spread out my sack lunch and I began re-reading the introduction and conclusion to "The Great Omission" by Dallas Willard. Soon I found myself reflecting on Matthew 28:16-20 and was once again surprised when Jesus began convicting me of being lax in teaching my students and family to “love the Lord with all their hearts” & to “love their neighbors as themselves”. This conviction has been coming at me with increasing clarity and intensity each time I think about my life and discipleship.

I went to work looking for "root" causes of the problem in Jesus “organic” teachings about loving Him and "one another" in John 15. I stayed there a long, long, time. Asked myself lots of questions about “vines” and “branches” and “abiding” and “obedience” and Jesus’ “new commandment” about “lov[ing] one another”, ...and asking myself the question why will "all men will know" we are Jesus' disciples if we have "love for one another"?

Then things got really personal, ...I stumbled into Ephesians 5 and Jesus schooled me good on “husbands love your wives” by relating this teaching back to what He says are the two "greatest commandments" and by integrating it with His "new commandment". This passage has stumped and humbled me for over 20 years. God knows I love Margee and try to love her as Jesus does, ...but I'm still perplexed about what it takes to love as "Christ loves the Church". Then, there in my little chapel 2 feet away from a cross I'd crafted & stuck my log, ...Jesus began to crack the code on this passage for me, ...for the very first time!!! I saw it's logic and literary richness. I saw it's sources and connectedness with what Jesus taught, commanded and lived. I felt like I was part of the Agape Genome Project, very awesome and quite humbling.
I felt excited, embarrassed, and blessed all at the same time. It was wonderful, renewing and a wee bit terrifying to sit at Jesus’ feet and learn about love from Him directly. The Holy Spirit spoke to my heart through the Word and broke through. All my worries and troubles and faded into the background of my mind. Love walked onto center stage and stayed there. As I approach the rest of April, I'll be stealing away often to quiet places to put myself in His Presence on this topic. I want more of this. I've found a "treasure in a field". I'm pooling my funds and I'm gonna buy this field! Round-trip cost of gas to Berkeley $8. Coffee & tea at Cafe Strada with Lucky & Anthony $6. Simple sack lunch $2. Sitting at Jesus' feet for 2 hours and letting Him school me on love -priceless!

That afternoon 2 things came clear:

#1) I can’t love my neighbor or my wife very well IF I don’t love myself; nor can I love myself very well unless I love God, and let God love me first

#2) When it all comes down to it in the final analysis, ...it's truly all about love!


Feeling Excited, Embarrassed, Blessed & Revived, Brother Daniel


PS After "Good Friday Chapel" I came home and surveyed the entire NT about "love", ...see for yourself: http://www.studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=26 At first pass I've found 7 different kinds of unique commands to love, ...contact me if you find more! This is all very exciting to me (like discovering fire). Below are 7 embers I want to fan into flame:

Love MyGod

Love MyNeighbor

Love MySelf

Love OneAnother

Love MyWife

Love That Which is Good

Love MyEnemies

Fireseeds of Spiritual Awakening? ...sparks are beginning to fly!

Dearly Beloved (v2.0), I had this wild ending to December and a beautiful beginning to January. God called me away for 2 weeks of speaking & teaching (9x) at CCC's Winter Conferences in San Diego & Dallas. Highlights were:

1) helping baptize 30-40 college students with Jaeson Ma/keynote speaker at the San Diego Winter Conference in the hotel fountain on New Years Eve (yes we got in trouble with the manager),



2) helping lead 3 morning "pray for spiritual revival" prayer times down in San Diego (God drew students to himself, esp. during a "56 Hours of Prayer" prayer room created on site by a UCLA student),



3) watching all 4 of my kids and Margee minister so beautifully to the missionary children in the conference childcare program (people kept coming up to me and saying how much they were touched by seeing my kids all serve together),

4) pancake candlelight dinner w/ my daughter Ebey @ her UCSD apartment and a prayerwalk w/ her "man" John afterwards at Windansea beach on New Years Day (priceless),

5) seeing over 150+ hungry-thirsty students come out to my "Praying for Jesus' Beautiful Vision" workshops at the Dallas Winter Conference, ...to be trained how to pray for spiritual revival and awakening on their respective campuses (off-the-charts response to God as they prayed through 2 Chronicles 7:14 for themselves and their campuses),

6) being introduced to Melinda Carter and learning about this wonderful new Christian community that she has recently helped birth in Austin called "The Fireseed Anthology Project" (I am really inspired by her experiement: http://fireseedanthology.wordpress.com/ )



7) and, the amazing litany of divine prayers, appointments and ministry opportunities Jesus kept leading me into. Each and every one of which was very powerful yet refreshing to my soul. On the way home on the plane I began writing furiously in my journal all these fresh new ideas and insights that keep coming to me. (I felt like I was being carried along by the Lord!)

Now I'm back in the Bay Area and I'm looking forward to continuing to fan into flame the gifts God that He has given me. I want to gather students and others locally to pray for spiritual revival to happen at their schools, esp. at Diablo Valley College, UC Berkeley, and San Jose State University. I'm simply blown away by all the activity of the Holy Spirit I'm experiencing inside me and seeing break out around me and want to lean into all that God is doing...



Of special note: After the baptisms were finished, Jaeson Ma and Howie (student/UCLA) prayed for me and the San Jose state student delegates who were with me at the conference. While Jaeson prayed for me he saw a whirling vortex of the Spirit occuring on the SJSU campus ---a beautiful whirling movement of Jesus comprized of students from every nation, irresistibly drawing others into it. This is such a confirmation to me because I felt so strongly I was supposed to pray this fall for San Jose State, and I did -but with no clear vision or direction. I've recently been asked to be CCC's new ministry Network Coordinator for SJSU so I'm cherishing this encounter in my heart.

Whatever the case, something is up with this generation of college students and I'm humbled God is drawing me into it. Pray with me to help prepare the way for a new Great Awakening, another Jesus Movement, and a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit on college campuse this spring. Like I said, it’s been a wild past two weeks.




Your servant, daniel



For information about the amazing and recently republished book "Fireseeds of Spiritual Awakening" by Dan Hayes, go to: http://crupress.campuscrusadeforchrist.com/discipleship/fireseeds-of-spiritual-awakening


For a sample (pdf file) of the entire first chapter of "Fireseeds" go to: http://crupress.campuscrusadeforchrist.com/files/products/fireseeds.pdf or click "The Fireseed-Revival Manifesto" link on my blog



-------------------------<><----------------------------- San Diego & Dallas Winter Conference Workshops description: "Praying for Jesus’ Beautiful Vision, ...Forming Prayer Bands That Spark Spiritual Revival & Awakening" by Daniel Curran Come pray for Jesus’ Beautiful Vision for your campus and your own life as well. Let’s “humble [ourselves] and pray” (2 Chronicles 7:14). Unity Gatherings and prayer movements are abounding on campuses all across North America. Let’s lean into what God is doing these days and pray for an outpouring of his Holy Spirit that sweeps this continent and beyond. You will be immersed into an invigorating, transferrable prayer-experience you can bring back to your campus. You will discover how to pray for revival –by actually doing it. We’ll also discuss: prayer band formation, prayer band “rules”, honoring Jesus’ co-mission to “as disciples, make disciples”, responsibly preparing for and leading in the midst of revival, the necessity of full student ownership, and the indispensable role of faculty advisors, college pastors & campus ministers.