Desperation Leadership Academy

God is anointing a generation of young people to spend their days in diligent and desperate pursuit of Him. He is empowering an army of ministers, marketplace workers, and those in politics and other realms of life that all have one thing in common- they’re marked with desperation to know God and to see His kingdom advanced in their generation. Are you one that God has anointed to lead? Are you looking for an opportunity to grow into all that God’s called you to be? If so, than the Desperation Leadership Academy is for you.

In DLA we spend hours in prayer, discipleship, college level Theology and Christian Living classes, as well as doing the missional work of the kingdom through a local church. We go on worship and prayer tours across the nation, we do conferences where thousands of high school students come to seek God, and we do missions all across the world. In DLA you will be submerged in every area of ministry that we are involved with at Desperation. This includes YOU actually discipling junior high and high school students in our youth group, YOU leading campus discipleship groups, and YOU leading a generation by being the hands and feet of the conferences and events that we put on. This program is unique in that every student that is a part of DLA will have their hands in multiple ministry opportunities and each student is given viable opportunity to LEAD their generation.

You will be given a role in leading at conferences and tours at dozens of local churches across the nation and inner-city missions as well as overseas missions. You will be given college books and discipleship books throughout the year (between 6-10 books), office supplies, sweatshirts, bags, shirts, water bottles etc. This past year we have gone snowboarding, sledding, river rafting, pool parties, park days, paintballing, and boating and jet skiing. Also upon completion of one year of DLA students are given Furnace rings, DLA necklaces and pendants, and a Bible commentary.

DLA will equip you with the tools you need to lead in the gifting and area of ministry or business that God is leading you to. Come to the mountains of Colorado to encounter God, create life-long friendships, lead your generation and experience the best year of your life! We are looking for those that are passionate to know God, that want to do ministry wherever they go, and desire to be given opportunity to lead and serve all for the glory of God. Our goal in DLA is to raise up “…one hundred men (and women) who love only God with all their heart and hate only sin with all their heart, and we will shake the gates of hell and bring in the kingdom of God in one generation” –John Wesley.

God is moving mightily in our midst and He is using students just like you to advance His kingdom. Consider joining us at DLA. Check out our website at www.desperationleadership.com. Applications for this year are due July 23, 2010.


Sincerely,

Tyrel Koenes, DLA Director

God is Passionate

1 Corinthians 9: 24-27
24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. 25 Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; 27 but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

Jesus Christ has called His followers to follow Him wholeheartedly. This is seen over and over in the Scriptures. When Jesus called His disciples the Bible declares in Luke 5:11, “…they left everything and followed Him.” Jesus calls us to be willing to give up everything for Him. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was he replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” This explains that Jesus wants us to love Him with everything we are, with all of our being.

These are just a couple of examples of Jesus showing us what He desires of us. The Scripture above out of 1 Corinthians 9 is one of the clearest instructions on God’s desire for us to live wholeheartedly. Paul very simply explains that in a foot race all the runners run as hard as they can in an effort to win the prize. Just like a runner runs in a race for the sole purpose of winning that race, Paul exhorts us to run the race of God as hard and as well as we can! The Lord instructs us to live wholeheartedly, in pursuit of Him and to live disciplined, focused lives, in order that we may receive the reward of eternal life. I am not saying that this is in reference to salvation as if we must work and labor in order to be saved. Salvation is a free gift from God but the fruit of salvation is a life of righteousness. I believe that if we do not strive and run hard with great effort in our walk with God we are in grave danger of losing our passion for our first love. We live in a fallen world and it takes purposeful effort to live a life for Christ. I think God encourages us in the Scripture, don’t take a lackadaisical approach to your life in God. Instead, live passionately! Live with purpose! Live in a very real personal pursuit of God!

Paul goes on to explain in his letter to the Corinthians that those that run in a foot race run for a wreath (trophy). If these people go into strict training and run hard to win a perishable trophy, how much more should the people of God apply themselves in effectively pursuing God and advancing the kingdom? How much more should we as followers of Christ educate ourselves in the Word and strive to live by God’s commands? Too often do believers (especially American Christians) take an apathetic approach to their walk with God. It’s time that a generation rise up, a generation that truly is desperate for God. It’s time for us to run hard, seek His face, and live passionately in pursuit of a passionate God!


Tyrel Koenes
DLA Pastor
WWW.DESPERATIONLEADERSHIP.COM

KNOWING
GOD'S WILL

Romans 12:1-2
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Through the seasons of life we experience a lot of pressures. One of the primary demands we, as believers put upon ourselves is to do the right thing, to do what God will's for our lives. I know we have heard it time and time again from our friends, pastors, and loved ones- “just do the will of God for your life.” All of us want to take their advice and do just that, if only we knew what God's will is! I think Romans 12 helps us understand how to know what God’s will is for each of us.

According to Romans 12 in order to know God’s will we must be transformed which will produce a renewed mind. And the way we become transformed is by not being conformed to this world. Our Christian lives can be compared to paddling in a canoe, going upstream in a raging river. The river is representative of the world and its influences and lusts. The current is strong and characterizes the flow of the world and its deceptive and destructive ways. The canoe is our vehicle to keep from being influenced and overcome by the world, so the canoe is represented as Christ’s working in each one of us. Our paddles are representative of the Holy Spirits grace and empowerment on our lives to overcome the world and to move forward in His call on our lives. If we simply sit in the canoe with the paddles and do nothing to make an effort to move forward in God, our canoe will end up simply running the same course as the rest of the world and we will flow with the world’s systems. It takes purposeful effort to paddle as hard as we can upstream in order to go against the “norm” of our day and live a life for Jesus Christ. I’m using this analogy to encourage you to fight to not simply conform to this world. If we will make a resolute decision to stand up for what’s right, to live for God in obedience to His commands then we will not flow with the world, we will move forward, upstream in our call in God. By living with solid convictions in this way the Lord will begin to transform your life bringing about a mind that is being renewed day by day, by simply choosing Christ every day.

Choose to lay down your desire to live by the demands of your flesh and the lust of this world and your life will be transformed before you know it. I believe in this place of laying down your own will you will find the will of God for your life. If you live according to the Holy Spirit long enough, you will be in tune to the direction God is leading you. Choose holiness today, choose transformation by making a firm decision to not live by the worlds standards and you will find the will of God for your life, His good, pleasing, and perfect will.

Tyrel Koenes
DLA Director
WWW.DESPERATIONLEADERSHIP.COM

This last weekend we had the YLPS (Youth Leaders Prayer Summit) here in Colorado Springs. There were over 100 youth pastors here from over 18 different states in the nation and we all gathered to simply pray. From weeks before this event I held great anticipation for what God wanted to do and I want to highlight two things that I feel God is voicing to the youth of this generation.

1. I feel a great urgency that God is calling us, as youth leaders to start to have greater faith and actually believe that God not only will pour out an awakening but that it is the desire of His heart for this generation.

I don’t want to be about hype or any kind of emotional high, I desire to voice the heart of the Father for a generation. In Luke 18 the Bible records a parable and explains that Jesus told His disciples this parable to show them that they “should always pray and not give up.” Let’s look at the rest of the parable:

Luke 18:2-8
2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’ ”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

So obviously the Lord is teaching us that we should continue to contend in prayer and not give up. The part of the parable I want to highlight is the last verse that says, “However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” This verse forever links the action of prayer with faith. In other words, prayer is a manifestation of great faith, especially constant, sustained, unrelenting prayer.

My point is that God desires to see a generation rise up in great faith to knock on the door of heaven, asking for a move of God in this time. It’s time for us to start believing that God will do what He wants to do. It’s time for us to unify, yes on Jesus, but also on believing God for a great outpouring on this generation. What will happen if men and women everywhere in this nation contended for a move of God in this generation? And not only contended but truly believed in their heart that God will do that which we ask for, simply because it’s the desire of His heart. Something happens when we pray with great faith. I am believing God for a move in THIS generation and my prayer life is the reflection and the evidence of my faith. I will contend and not stop because I am believing God for a move, an outpouring, a great revival that will cause millions of lost people to come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Let it be so.

The second thing is I want to highlight is this:

2. A unified 40 day fast for the outpouring I explained above.

We as DSM (Desperation Student Ministries) are participating in a 40 day fast from May 14 to June 22, 2010. Very simply, I think the heavens and the spiritual realm is shaken when the people of God pray and fast and even more so when we corporately participate together for the common purpose of seeing the Kingdom of God advance in this generation. Consider joining us in this fast as we contend for God to move mightily among us, that we may see the glory of God and that the lost would be saved.

Tyrel Koenes
DLA Director
WWW.DESPERATIONLEADERSHIP.COM

DILIGENT STUDY

Mark 4:24-25
21 And He was saying to them, “A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lamp stand? 22 “For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. 23 “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. 25 “For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.” NASB


Mark provides great insight into the heart of Jesus. It is His desire to give what is good to those who love Him and pursue Him. In the explanation of the verses above, we see what God is saying to us about this subject. When Jesus brings up the lamp, His intention is to point out that the purpose of a lamp is to give light. Since that’s the purpose of a lamp then of course you won’t take a lamp and put it under a basket or a bed, instead you will put it on a stand because the purpose of it is to give light. Jesus goes on to say, in the same way that a lamp’s purpose is to give light, the reason there are hidden things and secrets about God and the kingdom of God is that they may be revealed. This is exciting! God is showing us His desire to tell us the secrets of the kingdom of God! He goes on to show us how to gain revelation and understanding about Him. He says with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. This means to what measure of effort you put into studying, meditation, and the pursuit of God is the measure of knowledge, revelation, and understand that God will give you. This is important for us to understand because it gives us great encouragement and motivation to study the Scriptures and pursue God with all of our hearts. The statement at the end of verse 24 that says, “… and more will be given you besides”, shows us insight to God’s desire to give us more than we deserve. The Scripture explains, to the degree of effort and diligence that you put into studying me and my ways is the same degree that I will pour out knowledge on these things. Actually, I will give you more knowledge than you have even strived for because it is my will to reward you abundantly beyond your efforts for seeking me and my ways! Incredible!

It is also noteworthy to explain that this passage is not talking about salvation, so we need to know that it’s not talking about earning salvation because salvation is a free gift by grace and through faith, Eph 2:8. However, revelation on the nature and character of God is given to those that search Him out. We gain insight and understanding of the Scriptures by diligently studying them. And we find the secrets of the kingdom of God by pursuing to know those secrets with all our hearts.

The last thing Jesus states in this passage is, “For whoever has, to him more shall be given…” The idea here is that to Him who holds in high regard what revelation he has already been given; more will be given to him. In other words, if you value the knowledge God has given you already, by meditating on those things, taking action, and implementing them in your life, more knowledge will be given to you. But to those who deal with contempt (disdain, disrespect, disapproval) what knowledge and revelation they have been given, then what little knowledge they have will be taken from them.

Tyrel Koenes
DLA Director
WWW.DESPERATIONLEADERSHIP.COM

Luke 9:12-13
12 Now the day was ending, and the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the crowd away, that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get something to eat; for here we are in a desolate place.” 13 But He said to them, “You give them something to eat!” And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people.”


There is an extremely important lesson that Jesus taught His disciples when He fed the five thousand with just five loaves and two fish. We see the importance of the lesson in the fact that this event is recorded in every one of the gospels, which means it is emphasized four-fold.

We see in Luke 9:12-13 (NIV) that Jesus and His disciples were with a big group of people that had come out to be with Jesus. The day was coming to a close and so the disciples said to Jesus, "Send the crowd away that they may… get something to eat.” The lesson that Jesus was attempting to teach His disciples is found in His response, Jesus said, "You give them something to eat."

In order to see what Jesus was doing here we first have to understand that in the previous weeks Jesus had just sent out the disciples and “He gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and He sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick” (Luke 9:1 NIV). So the disciples went out, preaching and doing miracles in the name of Jesus. After their going out, “the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done” (Luke 9:10 NIV). So here we see the disciples just returned from preaching, healing the sick, and doing miracles in the name of Jesus and they come up to this problem: the people are hungry and there isn’t enough food for everyone.

Jesus tells His disciples, “You give them something to eat.” Why did He say that? Why did Jesus address His disciples when He already knew that He Himself would end up multiplying the loaves and the fish? The reason is because Jesus wanted to see if His disciples were beginning to think with a kingdom mindset. He just sent them out under the anointing to do miracles and now will they let this need for food stop the ministry of the Lord? Look at how the disciples respond, "We have only five loaves of bread and two fish — unless we go and buy food for all this crowd" (Luke 9:13 NIV). The disciples were still thinking like mere men without the anointing and power of God. Their answer to the problem was stated from a worldly mindset, in the world the way we eat is by “buying” food.

Jesus wants our minds and our thinking to be transformed, where we will look at situations and circumstances, not with limited thinking, but with a kingdom mindset in which we know that nothing is impossible with God. The kingdom-mind is what enables us to demonstrate the power! A kingdom-minded person is able to demonstrate and illustrate the will of God in all circumstances. We will know the kingdom of God has transformed our thinking when the miraculous becomes routine.

Jesus is saying to you today, “You give them something to eat,” how will you respond?

Tyrel Koenes
DLA Director
WWW.DESPERATIONLEADERSHIP.COM

Over the last couple of days DLA Core and I have traveled throughout Berlin, Germany prayer walking the city and different sites in the city. As I have spent my time here the Lord has opened up feelings in my heart that I haven’t experienced before. Let me explain.

In the past, I have been to Morocco in Africa, Mexico, and Bangkok and Phuket, Thailand. When I went to these places I felt somewhat disconnected with the people there. First of all, their culture is so different from ours. The way they live, the way they eat, the way they have fun, everything about them is so different. Another major obstacle, which probably goes without saying, is they speak a different language. Without communication it was very difficult to learn about the people let alone feel connected to them and build relationships. However, my time so far in Germany has been different. Germany has struck me in a way past missions experiences haven’t. I think it’s partly due to the fact that Germany’s culture is similar to ours in America and for the most part, many Germans speak English so there was more communication with them then I ever experienced in other countries.

Through these similarities, the Lord has opened the understanding of my heart to see the connectedness of all people on the face of the earth. For the first time I see another people living far away from me, more like brothers and sisters than some foreign people that I know little about. Yes, they do have cultural differences and yes their primary language isn’t English but through this time here I have tapped into a more personal responsibility to evangelize the world. I see a whole country of people that are lost and it has shaken me. According to local believers here only about 2% of all of Germany are born again believers. There is about 81 million people living in Germany which is roughly one-third of America’s population. How can it be that people just like you and I live in a land that is prospering, compared to many other countries in the world, but only 2 percent of 81 million know Jesus? What are we doing as believers in Christ if that number isn’t rising?

I feel my faith is being challenged, my heart grows a little faint, and I must ask God, what’s going on? I see my brothers and sisters and by all means they are good people, but I know “good” doesn’t save us from our sins. I have gained new vision, new passion, and new determination to truly do whatever possible to reveal the kingdom of God on the earth. I don't pretend to have all the answers. I am asking God, what responsibility lies on mankind to evangelize the earth and what responsibility is the Holy Spirit to move mightily?

I pray for our German brothers and sisters as well as every other human being on the face of the earth. God, we ask you for a great outpouring, not just in America but in all the earth. I pray for your name to be lifted up and that my friends will realize their need for salvation and will come to you, the redeemer of our souls. Amen.


Quick Update: We are just over halfway on our trip to Europe where were visiting past revival areas and praying that God would do the same in our home land, America. So far, we have ridden on 18 bus rides, 35 train rides (subway included for getting around cities), and 4 different flights, it’s been quite the experience! We are now in the U.K. and we are going to Oxford to see where John and Charles Wesley started the Holy Club and we are going to Wales to see where the Welsh revival took place in the early 1900’s.

Tyrel Koenes
DLA Director
WWW.DESPERATIONLEADERSHIP.COM

I am here in Berlin, Germany with the second year Core leaders as we go to past places of revival and contend for God to do the same thing in our day and in our time. We went to Wittenberg, Germany where Martin Luther lived, studied, and posted his 95 theses on the door of the church changing church and our availability to the Scriptures forever. Luther had a passion for God and the thing that caused the turmoil within himself that would not allow him to be silent was the love of TRUTH. The Lord spoke to my heart during my time in Wittenberg and showed me that other priests before Luther had been given the revelation that we are saved by grace, a free gift of God- not by purchasing indulgences (which is what was being taught by the church at that time). The Lord showed me that the reason they didn’t change history forever is because although they had knowledge of the truth, they were unwilling to fight for it. They were unwilling to suffer for TRUTH. You see, Luther faced extreme persecution, trials, and unrest because he went against not just the world and it’s systems but against the church and its perverted systems of that time. Am I encouraging people to rebel against the church? Absolutely not. I am simply saying that we MUST be a people that love the truth and that will even die in order that others know the truth. The truth is what sets people free, not religion.

We went to Herrnhut, Germany and saw Ludwig Von Zinzendorf’s church, house, and his grave. We have learned a lot about the Moravian movement and how Zinzendorf created a community of people committed to living whole-heartedly after God all of their days. We heard stories of worship leaders having weekly meetings with their band and asking each person hard questions like, has money had a hold on you this last week, how have you dealt with the opposite sex, what sin have you committed, and so on. Herrnhut was the first place to continually send forth missionaries ever, thus launching the modern mission’s movement as we know it today. We heard the great sacrifice it took to go on missions in those days. People would leave their parents and settle in a place and they would live in a community of friends and family and build close bonds all their lives. So the simple fact of saying goodbye to people was extremely foreign to most people in that day. Let alone, the fact that traveling long distances was very dangerous and very difficult in those times. Many times people would die on their way to the country they were to evangelize to. Other times they would die of some unknown disease within a few weeks of arriving, never getting a chance to witness to any of the people there. Did this change the mandate the Moravians had from God to send people to places where others had never heard the Gospel? No way. They were determined to live holy, to pray always, and to give up their lives for Jesus Christ.

What God has shown me on this trip thus far is this:
He desires to do what He has done in the past, but even greater things than these. He showed me that yes Luther, the Moravians, and others were instruments He used to bring about great and much needed change but they were mere men that lived to please God. Jesus is raising up reformers today, just like Luther, just like Zinzendorf. The goal isn’t to try and “reform” something, especially if God is not leading you this way. The goal is to live passionately for God, pray always, love people, stand up for the truth, and be willing to give up all you own, all you know, all you can gain in this world, and even your own life for the gospel of Christ. There is a reforming spirit that moves amongst the people of God and yes, the young people as well. In fact, Zinzendorf as a teenager made a commitment with a friend to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth. The success of true reformers isn’t that they succeed in “going against the flow.” Their success is that they lived their whole life in bold pursuit of the King of kings and the Lord of lords, obeying God and His Word in everything.

What makes these things so impacting for me is that in the Furnace and DLA in Colorado Springs, God IS doing what once was done. It’s exciting for me to know that the Moravians didn’t even have a central meeting place for all their prayer meetings. People would commit to one hour a week to pray. For example, every Wednesday at 3pm someone would commit to that hour, for the rest of their lives. That person wouldn’t necessarily come to the church but they would sit down by the bushes of the field they were working in and pray for that hour and they were held accountable to pray when they said they would. There was a community of people that lived this way and thus ended up praying 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for over 100 years. The encouraging thing is that that same thing is happening today. It’s going on all over the world but we are living in a fellowship of burning hearts right here in Colorado Springs. We have prayer meetings every day. We have accountability to live holy, where we ask each other the hard questions. We send out people to love people and proclaim the kingdom. And our goal is this: to live passionately for God, ALL of our lives.

Do you live in a godly community that spurs you to holiness and prayer? This is our entire mandate from heaven, to be a PEOPLE unto God. Here at the Furnace and DLA we are doing just that. Come join us as a fellowship of burning hearts and live your whole life for God as a reformer that lives boldly for the truth.

Tyrel Koenes
Director of DLA
WWW.DESPERATIONLEADERSHIP.COM