Hippie Hill.

I didn't know such darkness existed in the United States.  I've been to many countries, a lot of third world countries, but I have never felt so much evil, demonic darkness as I did yesterday at Hippie Hill in San Francisco, CA.  Our strategy was to stand on Hippie Hill and declare God's goodness and to praise Him with joyful hearts.  We yelled out to San Francisco... "BEHOLD YOUR GOD, HERE IS YOUR KING!"

We faced a ton of persecution and demonic hatred.  One guy even laughed in my face as I proclaimed my love for Jesus.  But, as we pushed past all that junk, we saw hope for San Francisco.  Hippie Hill will be known as "Preachers Hill and a park where revival meetings will take place." 

People saw Jesus in us, some fled with fear, others gathered with interest, and in one situation attacked. (not physically)

We were walking back to the bus stop when out of the corner of my eye I saw a man cursing and harassing a woman.  Of course the Lord asks me to stare at him.  So, we made eye contact and the Lord specifically spoke to me "do not take your eyes off this man."  The more I stood my ground, the more furious he became.  Then he started toward to me.  That's when my 3 amazing brothers in Christ stepped in front of me like a blockade of warriors.  Not for one second did I feel like I was in danger nor was I fearful.  We knew the authority we had over this demon possessed man.  His name was David (at least that's what he told us), and like many testimonies from demon possessed people, he had been hurt by the church/Christians.  It's sad that Christians can sometimes be some of the most hurtful people on this planet.  We talked (more like he talked) for a good 30 minutes and every other word coming out of his mouth was the F bomb or any other derogatory, insulting word you can think of.  He mixed scripture with curse words and spit in the face of my friend Matt many times.  At one point this man looked like he went into a trance and recited Psalm 63 word for word.  Demons know scripture.  When I looked into his eyes I couldn't help but cringe, this man David, was no where to be found, because of all the drugs and the demon that was terrorizing him.  My heart broke for this man.  He finally let my brother Matt pray for him and he flat out agreed he had demons in him, but he didn't want to be delivered.  Many times he threatened to slap Matt in the face and at one point had him by the collar.  Matt stood firm and shared his testimony with the man.  Our bus finally arrived and we left the darkness.

The Spiritual Realm is real whether we like it or not.  Our enemies are not flesh or blood, but the evil spirit that has taken over the body.  The cool thing is...we have the holy spirit inside of us and the demons cower in fear at the sound of Jesus' name.  There is no fear when we are lovers and followers of Jesus Christ, because He has given us authority in His name.  He is the all powerful, almighty God and darkness trembles when His name is spoken. 

It's crazy how sheltered we are in our own little bubbles.  I'm glad the Lord has called me on this adventure.  We weren't called just to live simply and comfortably in our Christian bubbles.  We were meant to befriend tax collectors, prostitutes, pimps, alcoholics, drug dealers...what the world would call "the scum of the earth". 

Jesus' love doesn't change for them.  The only difference between us and them is: they've been so blatantly deceived by the enemy and have never experienced the love of Christ.  The enemy has such a grip on them, and if we never go out and hangout with these people, Jesus in us will never get a chance to set them free.

God's perfect love sets people free.  There is no denying it.  He is amazing and everyday I wake up overwhelmed at the unconditional love He has for His people, even when they spit in His face and deny His very name.  If only they could see...