Highest Praise is finished!

Hey everyone,

as I mentioned in some previous posts, I've been working on completing my first 10 song demo album, including "I'll Just Relax" which was already released as a single.

It is completely free (free will donations are never denied) and I encourage you to share it with all your friends, cover it, etc., because I just want everyone to worship the Lord and hope that this music helps to serve that vision.

Free new single: "I'll Just Relax"

Hey everyone!

It's my joy to announce that the first single I recorded in a professional studio is released! I wrote it on the beach in Hawaii and it's about the greatness and goodness of God our Father. Because of who He is, I can stop worrying and just relax in His power and love. It's called "I'll Just Relax." I hope you enjoy it!

I just put it on Noisetrade so you can download it for free, as always. Also, feel free to share it with all your friends and encourage them to share it with others as well, all without charge. I do receive donations (click this to support me through YWAM, or you can go through Noisetrade), but don't want that to get in the way of people receiving quality God-honoring music. Social media like Facebook is a great way to share free music that exalts Jesus! Help me spread the fragrance of Christ all over the world!

Thanks!

P.S. I'm working on a 10 song demo, all original songs, with this being one of the songs. Be on the lookout, I'm hoping to release it on Christmas this year.

Here are the lyrics with chords:

Key: F
BPM: 75

Chorus 1:

Gm7 Cmaj7
I'll just relax
F

I know my daddy's got me
Gm7 Cmaj7
I'll just relax
F
There's no need to worry
Gm7 Cmaj7 F
I'll just relax, Yeah-yeah

Chorus 2 (x2):

Gm7 Cmaj7
You're the creator of all
Gm7 Cmaj7 F
You're the one that I call my daddy, You're my daddy

Interlude:

Gm7/// Am7/ Dm7////
(sing Oh) (Repeat)
Gm7 Am7 Dm7
I don't need to worry, I don't need figure it out all
Gm7 Am7
Cause I know you're my daddy
Dm7

I know you have a good good plan me (Repeat)

Chorus 1

Chorus 2 (x2)

Bridge (x2):

Gm7 Cmaj7 Gm7 Cmaj7
I'll just lay back and let you love me
Gm7 Cmaj7 F
You will carry me all the way home

Chorus 1

Credits:
Ryan Montgomery: producer, bass and accordion
Thomas Kenny (rkrpro@me.com): recording, mixing
Nathan Uttley (nathanuttleymusic@gmail.com): vocals, guitar and songwriter

My copyright is your right to copy. For more details see: http://nuttleyjesusfreak.blogspot.com/p/copyright-policy.html

I'm moving to Kansas City!!!

It has been an amazing year and I have so many things to be thankful for! Here are my top fives:

1. being a part of fueling 24/7 prayer in Washington, D.C.
2. Staffing at a base that sent out two outreach teams to Israel
3. Doing an evangelism school in PA that saw 320+ people saved in just one week of evangelism!
4. Staffing David's Tent with Youth With A Mission (YWAM), a 1,000 hour love song to Jesus on the lawn in front of the White House
5. Getting to teach a weekly Bible study in one of the Discipleship Training Schools happening at this base

Thank you all so much for your support! I certainly couldn't've done this on my own, and I'm so thankful for each one of you that have prayed and given financially to me to be able to be on staff with YWAM for one more year. While being here in DC I've become more convinced than ever that God is raising up a global prayer movement that will only grow until the Lord returns. As God's people are praying and worshiping 24/7 we are already seeing incredible fruit in many nations and will continue to see unprecedented awakening in the nations. The 320 salvations in just one week of evangelism in America is a great example of that.

In the past few years I've been learning my place in this grand move of God, and I believe a significant part of my life is to be a corporate worship leader. I currently can lead with the guitar, piano, sing and play drums. I've also been very blessed to have written about 150 original songs since early 2011 (which are all in various stages of producing). That number just astounds me and causes me to praise the Lord, because any gifts I have for songwriting simply came from Him. Many people have affirmed me and even asked me to start recording the songs I've written.

Because of such encouragement, support and divine help, I just finished recording a song called “I'll Just Relax.” While I've recorded many other songs, this was my first recording in a professional studio. As I write this the audio engineer is mixing it and I hope to release it for free soon! (donations are always welcome haha) I'm also planning on recording 9 more songs using a simple music recording program called Garageband, and I hope to finish it by Christmas. When they're all finished I plan to release them all as a 10 song album called Highest Praise, which will also be free. My primary goal is simply to make Jesus famous by making really good music that helps the worshiper know God as He can be known so that they can love Him as he can be loved. I also believe that giving songs to people and receiving donations will be a very practical way of how I raise support in the future. Just as Paul was a tentmaker, I feel gifted to be a songwriter.

To that end, I've applied and been accepted to the International House Of Prayer University (IHOPU) in Kansas City, MO. I'll be doing their worship leader track and currently plan on completing a 4 year degree through that school. I'm currently doing online courses to get some credits done, and I'll start my on-campus student orientation Jan. 16^th 2014. As for my involvement with YWAM, I hope to do a couple short trips with YWAMers in 2014, but as of Dec. 17^th, 2013 I will not be on staff with YWAM in any official role. However, I am already full of ideas and desire to join YWAM again in the future, but I need to wait for the Lord's timing.

As for support, first I just want to say thank you for all of your support! While I won't be on staff with YWAM anymore, I do still need finances to cover my expenses at IHOPU, as I plan on spending about $500/month on housing and food. Especially since I've volunteered with YWAM and haven't had a salary for the last 3 ½ years, support is very appreciated. YWAM is allowing me to keep my missions account until March 13^th so that way still works great. Like I said I'll be giving away music for free/donation, so if you don't feel led to support me monthly please enjoy the music and pray about donating for that. Above all else, please pray for me to live wholly pleasing to the Lord in everything I do. Thanks and God bless!

David's Tent Recap

Hey y'all!

Thanks so much for all of your prayers, finances and encouragement that have been poured into my life so that I could be a part of David's Tent! It truly was a very unique opportunity that I am very grateful to you and God for!

Just to remind you (or tell you for the first time), here is the history of how David's Tent got started:
-Our leader Jason Hershey was doing an extended fast in 2011, and the Lord spoke to him about a new national gathering, one where shouts of joy and victory resounded from the tents of the righteous (Psalm 118:15). From that place of the Lord speaking, the dream only grew and grew!
-In 2012 a friend of Jason went to the National Park Service, hoping to get a permit to put up a tent for about 40 days on a smaller, less public location here in DC. While he was in the office they offered him The Ellipse, and after filling out the application they got a permit to put up a tent Sept. 25th-Nov. 6th in 2012.
-Over 20,000 people came to David's Tent in 2012, and about 160 unique worship teams came from all 50 states just to worship Jesus and bring Him joy through their praise! (To see the amazing 26 min documentary, click this sentence)
-On one of the last days on David's Tent 2012, one of the National Park Service told us to think about doing the event in 2013! Then Jason immediately started filling out an application for 2013 to start making David's Tent an annual event!

Now, after David's Tent 2013 I can say that this year was amazing as well. We have so many testimonies, but here are the highlights:
-at least 3 known salvations during the tent
-1000s of gospel tracts getting handed out, and very rarely finding them on the ground. People want to hear the Good News! The worship completely to Jesus could be heard across the Ellipse on some occasions!
-incredible relationships with the National Park Service (NPS) and Secret Service, which have only increased from last year
-Someone working with the NPS said something like: "I just have to get to David's Tent because I know it's the only place I can find peace right now"
-Thousands of people all around the nation were encouraged by what God is doing through Facebook, Email, Twitter, etc. (if you haven't liked our Facebook page, please do so by clicking on this sentence and liking it!)
-Over 200 bands from all over the nation have came to lead worship. Over 44 states and 37 nations were represented!!!
-During the government shutdown we were the only organized event on the National Mall (see photo below)
-We got news coverage from CBN (click this sentence to see it)
-But best of all, we were able to pour our love and Jesus and bring a pleasing sacrifice of praise to Him. He is our greatest joy and there is nothing more we desire than just to please HIM!!!

The sign reads: Because of the federal government shutdown, this National Park Service area is closed, except for 1st Amendment activites. If this were a higher resolution photo, you could tell the tent was right behind the sign.

As for the future, David's Tent DC is seeking for national mobilization. We really want this vision of 24/7 worship to Jesus spread all across America, and even the whole world. We believe that as the nation's capitol we are setting a new normal in America, that worshiping Jesus is simply what we do because He is worthy and we love Him with all that we have. If you want to be a part of this vision, please stay connected by going to davidstentdc.org. Maybe you or someone you could know could bring a worship team next year, or you could donate enough money for a few days or even weeks of generator fuel. Maybe you could set up a tent outside your state capitol building and worship Jesus there!

Until the whole world is full of His praise,
Nathan

God paid my taxes! And our sushi dinner!

31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:31-33)

When Jesus said those words, He meant it. Jesus has never once lied and being God cannot even be tempted to lie. He is perfect in every way and has never let me down.

Yet earlier this year I was seriously struggling to believe that God really is who He says He is.

The reasons were simple: In April of this year I needed about $2,000 to pay my taxes, while people I respect and love had recommended that I get a paying job and leave YWAM (making me doubt God's call and provision), and I didn't have time to work on my own to get the money I needed in time. I was stuck, and all I could do was cry out to God and be faithful to what I thought He told me to do.

The clock was ticking, and the IRS needed their money.

Wednesday before tax day on the following Monday: I slept most of the day, didn't do anything about the financial situation, and felt hopeless and discouraged.

Thursday before tax day: I made two phone calls to my faithful supporters and within an hour those two people committed to give me $2,400 total. It was a miracle. I felt the affirmation from Heaven that God would not only provide for me in all of my daily needs, including paying taxes to the government, but even more that my specific mission by backed by God. 24/7 prayer in Washington DC really is on God's heart and this financial provision was a huge testimony to me of that.

My God is faithful to His promises and has never let me down, especially in the area of finances. I'm still debt-free and have been primarily supported by others while volunteering with YWAM for the last three years.

Another delicious layer to this testimony came a few weeks ago while I was eating sushi with my friends.

It started out as just another night eating dinner, with casual conversations dispersed throughout our table of 9. Then the question came: who has a testimony?

After waiting a few moments, I piped up and began to tell the story you just read about my taxes. Right after I got done telling the story, my friend Gabriel said that the Lord showed him in a vision this exact scene earlier this year. (Gabriel is a very gifted friend who has this kind of thing happen on a regular basis). Basically God showed him ahead of time that he would be in that exact place at that exact time, hearing my testimony, and it came to pass! Gabriel said that when he gets visions showing the future like that he really pays attention when they come to pass because it's a confirmation that everyone involved is where they are supposed to be.

So here in our group we had an amazing testimony that Gabriel was shown would be told earlier that year. Then another girl said she recently had a dream from God in which the message was John 6, which includes the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 miraculously. Then we really paid attention because God was clearly speaking multiple times about His miraculous provision. With many of us urgently needing financial provision we were very encouraged.

Then to top off this amazing night of encouragement, our waitress came up and told us that our check had been paid for, and she didn't even know who paid for it. I think it may have been an angel, but I can't prove it. I just know that God was really speaking to us that we were truly following Him, He really saw us and that He really cared for all of our needs like the greatest Father we could ever imagine.

He knows the hairs on our heads, he knows every longing in our heart, he knows us on our good days and on our bad days, and He loves us the same. How great is our God!

Thanks for all the prayers and support that God uses in my life, and may you be blessed with the assurance that if you seek first His kingdom He will supply your every need.

For the Lamb to receive the reward of His sufferings,
Nathan Uttley

Prayer request: David's Tent and health

Hey everyone!

It's with so much joy in my heart that I can say in two days we are officially starting David's Tent, 40 days of nonstop worship right in front of the White House! Thank you all so much for your amazing love and support that has gotten me this far. I was just reflecting on the fact that I didn't have money to pay for my taxes earlier this year, and I didn't have the time to get a job and raise the money myself. But God provided more than I needed through two of my amazing supporters and now I'm still on staff with YWAM and here in DC to be a part of David's Tent! The Lord is so faithful!

Another amazing testimony that I heard is that until David's Tent 2012 the longest permit ever granted for events on the White House Ellipse was 14 days. But God made a way so that this wild crew could put a tent on the White House Ellipse for 40 days just to worship Jesus! It was unprecedented and totally a work of God!

So it's with great faith in my heart that I humbly ask you to join with me in prayer to our great God for us and this event.

Please agree with God's desires in the following ways:

1. Ask God to pour out His Spirit upon in unprecedented ways. Our greatest desire is His presence with us. A part of this is that we would be filled with boldness to preach the Gospel with those that have yet to follow Him, and that they would be saved and filled with Holy Spirit as well!
2. Ask God to release all the finances we need. We need $15,000 to get on the Ellipse, and then we need at least $35,000 to sustain us through the whole duration of the tent. If you feel led to give, please go to http://www.davidstentdc.org/donate/
3. Ask God to strengthen us to worship Him wholeheartedly the whole time. We would also appreciate more worship leaders, especially throughout the night. If you or anyone else is interested in leading worship for David's Tent, please go to http://www.davidstentdc.org/worship-leaders/
4. Ask God to cause the message of David's Tent to spread all throughout the Earth. We really want to see more and more people getting together simply to worship Jesus and enthrone Him on our praises. You can go to our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DavidsTentDc or just share the website davidstentdc.org with your friends.
5. Ask God to send the media to share the message, and spare us from any unnecessary controversy. We believe God wants to use the media to spread the fame of Jesus all across the Earth!
6. Ask God to move in our President and our government like never before, that all of our government would follow God wholeheartedly.

Also, please pray specifically for me, that the Lord would supernaturally heal me. I've been sick for about 4 weeks and really ready to be done with it :)

Thank you so much!

David's Tent 2012 Documentary

Hey everyone! I just wanted to share an amazing documentary that was made about David's Tent in 2012. There was 40 days of nonstop worship to Jesus from the White House Ellipse! If you or anyone you know is interested in leading worship, donating financially, or just being a part of the nonstop worship, please visit davidstentdc.org for more information.

Enjoy!

Circuit Riders recap

Thank you all so much for praying for us as we went to Lancaster, Pennsylvania for a week of training, called Circuit Riders. It seriously was one of the best weeks of ministry I've ever seen or heard of! Here are some highlights:

• about 500 students enrolled for the whole week to get trained up in saving the lost, reviving the saved and training them to go and do the same
• At least 320 salvations on the street within one week, which included 4 hours of scheduled evangelism
• one of our deaf students wrote on a paper back and forth with a person, eventually leading them through praying to follow Jesus!
• Some of the students went to talk to someone on their front porch. After praying the sinners' prayer together, they looked up and saw their neighbors praying to receive Jesus as well!
• Two girls had appointments to get abortions. But, after encountering one of the students at our conference, and receiving prayer, they immediately canceled their appointments and decided to keep their babies!
• The lost were so hungry for Jesus! One of my friends was on her way to the bathroom, and someone approached her and said: "Can you pray with me, I want to know God." While she was sharing with her, 4 more people showed up. All 5 people were led through repentance, received Bibles and got connected to local churches all because one girl was so hungry to know God and approached my friend!
• One of the student in our DTS had a specially favor filled week. He name is Bruce, and he just became a Christian about 6 months ago. During this whole past week he personally led 6 people to the Lord! This first day of evangelism we talked on the phone and he told me, "We just led 4 people to the Lord, we need more Bibles!" and my jaw just dropped!
• There were so many people coming from the community for our nightly free sessions that we kept adding more chairs but more people were coming that we had about 1,500 people at the most, and 300 of them had to sit on the floor! Our meeting hall was seriously packed out!

We are all walking from the past week more encouraged than even. God has given me faith for all of America to be saved like never before. Please join with me in pressing in for that reality!

Prayer Request: Circuit Riders

This whole next week, both DTSs (The American Sign Language DTS and David's Tent DTS) will be gone in Lancaster, Pennsylvania to do an intensive school called The School of the Circuit Rider. The three main goals are to save the lost, revive the saved, and train them all! Please be praying for us, as we will probably be doing daily evangelism on the streets and hope to see God do amazing things. Thanks!

Enjoy this amazing video, and click here for more info!

God still heals!

One of my favorite verses of the New Testament is Acts 14:3: “So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.” (ESV)

And of one of my favorite things in life is when God shows up in miraculous ways to confirm his word! While I could try to explain what happened, I'll let Brooke tell you! She is on an outreach team that spent their three month lecture phase in Kona, HI and spent about 4 weeks in DC with us and will soon be leaving for the Middle East.

"As our time in Washington DC comes to an end, I can’t help but to smile as I think about all that the Lord has done in this city as well as what He has done in my life. Ever since watching Darren Wilson’s “Finger of God” a few months ago, I’ve had an itch to see God show off before my own eyes. This brings me to my favorite moment out of the four weeks we have been here. Every night our team travels out to DuPont Circle, a popular hang out spot for both locals and tourists. To paint a picture for you, just imagine a park with a pretty fountain in the center surrounded by restaurants galore, embassies, shops, and lots of traffic. A large portion of the homeless community call this place their home. The first night our team decided to evangelize in groups of two. With that being said, Grant, his ukulele (aka companion for life), and myself were off. At this point I’m thinking to myself okay lets take a lap around the park and scope out our bait, but Grant just goes for it.

We walk up to a group of four homeless people hanging out on a bench and begin talking about life. Grant takes Mitch who is a universalist and I take Bree, Kevin, and Brett who gives me every reason not to believe in God. Bree has a past of rejection, abuse, and confusion so it was a challenge getting her to open up. Kevin deals with self worth, oppression, and fear that causes him to remain silent. Brett grew up with no stability, love, or acceptation. After nearly two hours of conversation, my hunger to see God move is out of control. It’s like waiting for your favorite meal at your favorite restaurant. All the sudden Brett moans and complains about the pain in his leg. My ears perk up and I realize my favorite meal at my favorite restaurant is about to be served. Brett can barely walk, even with his cane because he was hit by a car which caused a serious meniscus injury. I asked if I could pray over his leg and he said yes! After praying I asked him to stand up without his cane. His reaction is one I will remember for the rest of my life.

Standing in awe, his jaws hit the ground and he says, “There is no pain in my knee.” Still limping, I insist we keep praying that God will completely restore his entire leg back to its original design. Grant walks over and we both pray for full healing. Brett stands up once more and exclaims, “I feel like I have a new leg! Lets walk to California! What the....” Completely dumbfounded at what just happened, Brett tells us that he’s going to share with his mom (who is an atheist), this miracle of how God healed his leg! Bree insists that we pray for her dad who has cancer and Kevin was willing to receive prophetic words, affirmation and prayer too. The atmosphere shifted in that moment, a moment I will never forget. Time and time again I will hear various people from the homeless community speak about how Brett doesn’t walk with his cane anymore. They say he uses that cane as a testimony of how God healed his leg. And that my friends, is the beginning of an awakening in DuPont Circle."

New location and 24/7 prayer!!!

Our new house on Massachusetts Ave. (aka Embassy Row)

I am so delighted to announce that we have moved to an amazing location on Embassy Row, on the same street with embassies from all nations in the Earth except for 5. There are about 30 people staying here, and it has been such a joy living here. When we're not in the classroom or prayer room, we're probably playing chess, ping pong or out on the streets telling people about Jesus.

Brandon & Kari playing chess

I am also so delighted to announce that ever since about 7:00 pm Wednesday, July 3rd, we have committed to establish a specific prayer room that is filled with some sort of prayer 24/7, day and night, night and day, without ceasing. It has been so much fun as we constantly seek to fill the time, and keep that reach in our hearts, that above all else we just want to know God as He can be known and love him as he can be loved. Many of the students have been stepping out and singing on the mic, and many new songs have been written on the spot as we simply lift up a love song to our beautiful God. We believe that it is pleasing to God, and that He will bring about a great awakening in America because of the prayers of His people.

Jason Hershey casting vision for 24/7 prayer on July 3rd

There are many reasons to keep 24/7 prayer going, but two reasons have been at the forefront of my mind. One is that Jesus is simply worthy night and day of worship and praise. In Revelation 4-5 we see this constant reality in heaven. They just can't stop worshiping God in Heaven, so why not establish heavenly worship on Earth? God is simply worthy of unending praise!

Our glorious prayer room!

The other reason is that we are constantly in need in prayer. Without God's intervention, every human is on a path towards hell. We need God to intervene! All of the greatest awakenings in history have been birthed in prayer!! Read on for a short summary of the 100 year, 24/7 prayer watch that went on in Herrnhut, Germany and ended up impacting the world. This is an excerpt from http://www.ihopkc.org/prayerroom/history/:

"August of 1727 is seen as the Moravian Pentecost. Zinzendorf said August 13 was “a day of the outpourings of the Holy Spirit upon the congregation; it was its Pentecost.” Within two weeks of the outpouring, twenty-four men and twenty-four women covenanted to pray “hourly intercessions,” thus praying every hour around the clock. They were committed to see that, “The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out” (Lev. 6:13). The numbers committed to this endeavor soon increased to around seventy from the community. This prayer meeting would go non-stop for more than one hundred years and is seen by many as the spiritual power behind the impact the Moravians had on the world.

From the prayer room at Herrnhut came a missionary zeal which has hardly been surpassed in church history. The spark initially came from Zinzendorf’s encounter in Denmark with Eskimos who had been converted by Lutherans. The count returned to Herrnhut and conveyed his passion to see the gospel go to the nations. As a result, many of the community went out into the world to preach the gospel, some even selling themselves into slavery in order to fulfill the great commission. This commitment is shown by a simple statistic. Typically, when it comes to world missions, the Protestant laity to missionary ratio has been 5000:1. The Moravians, however, saw a much increased ratio of 60:1. By 1776, some 226 missionaries had been sent out from the community at Herrnhut. It is clear through the teaching of the so-called father of modern missions, William Carey, that the Moravians had a profound impact on him in regard to their zeal for missionary activity. It is also through the missions-minded Moravians that John Wesley came to faith. The impact of this little community in Saxony, which committed to seek the face of the Lord day and night, has truly been immeasurable.”

God is truly raising up a movement of night and day prayer all across the Earth. Please pray for us that the fire on the altar here would never go out, and may God bless you with a greater expression of prayer in your area as well. Thank you!

Two new schools starting on Thursday

Hey everyone!

Our base here in DC is so excited to run the first Discipleship Training Schools (DTS) since 1989. That means the last time a DTS has been run was before I was born. That is a long time!

We are now moving into our new house, which is called Embassy Church, on Embassy Row. We will have both DTSs (see below) in that building. Embassy Row is home to embassies from every nation on the Earth except for 5 (which America has decided to cut off relations with). It is very humbling to be dwelling in such an influential location, and such an honor I don't feel worthy of. We are also going to be a block away from the National Cathedral. I'll take pictures and make them available next week so you can see too!

As for the DTSs, there are going to be two running simultaneously. One is called the American Sign Language (ASL) DTS, which is for the deaf, to equip them to reach out to the deaf community (I'll probably get to learn sign language during the next few months!!!).

The other is called David's Tent DTS. This school will have a focus on worship and intercession, and for their outreach they will be staying with us in DC to help run David's Tent later this year, and then going to Israel for a few weeks.

While I won't be on full-time staff with these schools, I will be able to support them and offer assistance as needed. I've been asked to spend 1 hour/week teaching Bible Overview, Inductive Method Overview, and Inductive Bible Study through some specific passages

Here are the videos the school leaders made to introduce their schools and invite people to join them. The ASL video is in sign, but is still really cool to watch. Enjoy! Please pray for us!

Where am I, what am I doing and what's my mailing address?

Our nation's capitol building

Hey everyone that is interested!

I just got to Washington, D.C. last Sunday, June 9th. It's now about a week later, and I am thoroughly enjoying this place! There are about 10 staff at the base right now in various roles, with more to arrive soon. There are also two Discipleship Training Schools (DTSs) starting on June 27th (more to come on those next week!)

We are also looking and searching for the locations that we will use for our housing, House of Prayer (HOP), training and office spaces. We are hoping and praying for a location that is safe, affordable and gives us room to grow in the future.

Some people were asking about a mailing address, so here it is:

RE: Nathan Uttley

YWAM DC

PO Box 15287 Washington, DC, 20003

Please pray for us, that the LORD will open up the doors to the perfect location for us for the next few months. Thanks!

One of our staff houses where I'm staying: 3218 4th St. SE, Washington, D.C., 20023

So what's next?

So I got done with the outreach that came after the School of Biblical Studies, and have been in my hometown of Sisters, OR since March 31st. Since being back I have primarily been studying with University of the Nations, Youth With A Mission's (YWAM) international university doing something called the Directed Reading Course. I have been so blessed to have read a few very intense books, which have been about church history, biblical background and various theological topics that have only strengthened my faith and given me more confidence to know that as I Christian I am following in the footsteps of thousands intelligent men who have gone before me who, after countless hours of study, prayer and living, can still confidently say they are convinced that the Bible is the inspired, true, reliable and authoritative word of God Himself! The Bible is awesome! It's so good to be a Christian!

So what's next? Over the last few years since joining Youth With A Mission (YWAM) God has taught me a lot about the importance of prayer and simple intimacy with Him. 1 Thess. 5:17 simply says “pray without ceasing” and all throughout the Bible we see that it is people who know God that are able to stand strong and obey Him with confidence in any circumstance. I’ve personally experienced such transformation in my own life as I sit at His feet and learn from Him. God has really showed me more and more how much He deserves the love, worship and obedience of every human being on the planet, and that He is longing to answer our prayers in line with His will and pour out His Spirit so that many souls would be saved and come to know Him. All across the Earth God is moving and raising up communities of prayer, prayer rooms and even 24/7 houses of prayer. His house truly will be called a house of prayer for all nations (go to ihopkc.org for an excellent and very influential example). I’m convinced that from the place of prayer we will see many people come to know Jesus, who will then start praying and see more people come to know Him! There will be an awesome explosion of salvation all across the Earth! God is truly doing something powerful!

Because of what I’ve learned and how God has led me, I’m staying with YWAM but moving to Washington DC. There is a base in DC that is seeking to establish a community of 24/7 prayer in the capitol of America, and I’m going to join them on June 9^th, 2013. We really desire all of America to come to know Jesus, and to be a blessing to the nations and believe that 24/7 prayer will be a vital part of seeing that happen. This year they’re also running two Discipleship Training Schools and are going to set up a tent on a big patch of grass (called the White House Ellipse) right next to White house for 40 days of nonstop worship to the one true God and His divine Son Jesus from September 24th-November 5th. As for my part, there are many roles to be filled, so I will probably do many different things as they are needed. At the same time, the enduring template of this base is that everyone would spend about half their time contending in the place of prayer, Bible study, worship and intercession, while the other half will be spent in service to the base, partnership with local churches or outreach to the lost. Only God knows exactly what I’ll be doing when I get there, but that is the basic template for time management. I’ve also decided to stay in DC until God moves me somewhere else.

As always, I need your help! I’m in desperate need of God’s grace in my life, and He said to simply ask and we shall receive. Please pray for me, Washington DC and all of America that we would come to know God and love Him with all of our hearts. If you feel led to give financially, that’s also very needed and appreciated! I’m seeking to raise $1,500/month to cover my expenses and be able to help out others in need. Please prayerfully consider partnering with me as I seek to know God and make Him known in America. Feel free to click on these words here to donate electronically, or click on these words for directions to write me a check and/or email me at uttleynathan@gmail.com if you’re interested in supporting me financially. Thank you and may God bless you in whatever He’s called you to do!

For the Lamb to receive the reward of his sufferings,

Nathan Uttley

Titus is over and God is good!!!

Hey everyone!

Thank you so much for your prayers and support! I have been so blessed on outreach and filled with joy as I was able to share God's word with many hungry people. By God's grace we were able to spend 8 weeks sharing much of what we had learned during SBS. My favorite part was to share the Bible Overview, which was a short summary of the entire redemptive story of the Bible. There are so many stories in the Bible that have so much encouragement, revelation and application to offer us. During the teaching time my greatest joy was to see people get excited about the Lord and His plan for the world and respond in love and obedience to Him. Thank you all the opportunity to share God's word with Philippines for 6 weeks and Taiwan for 2 weeks. I hope and pray that the past 3 months of training and application has started me on a journey of enjoying God's word and sharing that with others.

I hope that this video is encouraging as you see the pictures and some videos that we took from outreach: 

Paying taxes for the glory of God

For the last couple years, I've really struggled with paying taxes. Not only struggling to have the right attitude in my heart, but dealing with the conscience of giving money to a government that pays for stuff that morally I'm opposed to. I actually once considered not paying taxes as a protest against the government's use of my money to pay for abortions. That was a little intense...

Yet this year the Lord has done a change in my heart, and there have been some biblical texts that have changed my mind and heart.

The first is realizing God's heart for giving and obedience: "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." (2 Cor 9:7 ESV)

 The second is realizing that paying taxes was God's idea: “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” (Matthew 22:21 ESV)

^"6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. ⁷ Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed." (Romans 13:6-7)

So I've come to the conclusion from Scripture that paying taxes is not just the mandate of the U.S. government, but also the mandate of heaven. That really makes it more exciting when I get to obey God by giving money to someone that may not know Him. I'm also confident that the people who handle that money will answer to the most just Judge that ever existed. So I can vote, speak my mind publicly and pray constantly, and after it's all said and done GOD will right every wrong and clean up the mess we've made, and those that have rejected Him will receive their just punishment. God is in control! And yet at the same time I'm grieved when I hear the statistics of how my money is being used, even it's for one intentional abortion, because for whatever reason is one death is still too many.

So what do we do in this tension of being citizens of heaven while living in a dark world that needs the light? There are many godly responses, (and however we do it, paying taxes is a must) but for me as I've been led by the Spirit the words of Paul have been a comfort to me while thinking about taxes:
⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. ⁵ Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; ⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Why rejoice? Because ultimately all government comes from God, and is responsible to God and He loves a cheerful giver. So why not turn that frown upside down and pay our taxes with joy this year? If we don't have enough money to pay for it this year, let us pray with thankfulness with all that we've already received. God has given us so much in Christ (Eph. 1:3ff)! And then let us work hard for the glory of God, making the most of every moment we're alive so that we can give even more away to those that may be in need. I guarantee no matter how poor we are, God has a plan to provide for us everything we need and there is always someone in greater poverty than us. And of course, let us pray for the government that they will have the fear of the LORD, for the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom (Pr 1:7, 9:10).

So, I appeal to you, if you call yourself a Christian and want to submit to the authority of the Scripture, pay your taxes with joy and thankfulness, out of obedience to a generous, just and holy God who is watching everything that we do, and pray that our government will walk in the fear of the LORD and use those taxes for His glory as well. And pray for me that I will do the same. We are all in need of His grace :)

Journal entry after outreach in Philippines

Dear Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth, I come before you in humility to thank you for all that you've done. Thank you that all things started with you, that you are the Creator and we are your creation. Thank you for the Bible, and that in the Bible we see your constant revelation to humanity. Thank you for all the prophecies, the predictions, the miracles, the warnings, the commandments, the promises, the judgements, the stories, the psalms, the songs, and the joy that I've found in your word. Thank you Jesus so much that more than 4 years ago you reached down and you grabbed my life in such a way that I've never been the same. Thank you for revealing yourself to me.

And thank you so much for the last 9 weeks of my life. Thank you so much for the Titus Project, that you sent teachers to teach us how to teach others. And thank you that by your grace for the last 6 weeks I've found such delicious joy in proclaiming who you really are. Thank you for the Bible Overview, for the opportunity to share the redemptive history that we see in the Bible. Thank you for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the hope, redemption and life we have through simple faith in Jesus Christ. Thank you that you're coming back again, and as Bible teachers we were simply able to proclaim the greatest story ever written, and thank you that it was completely inspired by your Holy Spirit. Thank you that the power of your Spirit was with us to preach and teach with all boldness, having confidence of the tradition that was passed down to us from Jesus Himself.

Thank you so much for the Philippines, that you have created those beautiful people to love you and adore you and live their lives for you. Thank you for the gracious hearts that they have had. Thank you that even in their weakness they are so loved by you. God I pray that you would pour out your Spirit upon them even more, that they may know you as you can be known, so that they may love you as you can be loved. Jesus you are so worthy of all the honor, glory and praise. Fill them up with the knowledge of you!

And God as I look forward to the next 2 weeks in Taiwan of outreach and 1 week of debrief, above all else I desire that you would pour out your Spirit, that through our weakness you would be seen as great and glorious, and that every high and lofty thought that raises itself up against the knowledge of you would be taken down. God pour out you Spirit upon Taiwan like never before and raise up a church that glorifies you!

In Jesus mighty name I pray, amen.
Your son that was purchased by the blood of the Lamb,
Nathan

Lecture phase is over, time for outreach!

Hey everyone!

Thank you so much for praying for us all in the the Titus Project as we have been preparing for outreach. (Wondering what is Titus Project? Go to http://titusproject.com/ to find out more!) This last 3 weeks we had much time in the classroom, both receiving in lectures from our staff and practicing teaching to each other. We covered various topics, such as teaching the Inductive Method Overview (inductive method is explained more below), preaching on a specific passage, Bible Overview- going from Creation all the way to the Second Coming of Jesus, and team teaching through a specific passage while going through the text inductively.

By God's grace I was able to teach the Inductive Method Overview. 1=Observation 2=Interpretation 3=Application

For those of you who don't know, the inductive method is human made method, and it is an attempt to humbly come to the Scriptures, not by imposing our preconceived ideas upon the text, but allowing the text to shape our beliefs and practices. We practically do this by being very prayerful, observing the text, studying historical background to figure out what the text meant to the original audience, and then figure out how we can apply the truths that were spoken long ago to ourselves today. It is so exciting, and this is the method that we used through the School of Biblical Studies (SBS) that I was a student of last year in Taiwan. We just learn so much when we come to the Scriptures humbly with a desire to learn so that we may be transformed!

And it's because I've had such an amazing time day after day learning from God's word that I'm so excited to take what we learned and impart to some of the people of Asia. I really have been so blessed by being a part of SBS I feel compelled to bless others. My team leaves tomorrow, Monday January 28th and we go to the Philippines for about 5 weeks, and then come back to Taiwan for the remaining 3 weeks. We're going to be teaching the Bible quite a bit, and I'm so excited to be on my amazing team! I'm the only young man, and I'm with three other young women, all of whom love the Lord with all of their hearts! It's going to be fun!

Team Philippines from left to right: Nathan, Cari, Jeanine, Annet

If you want to pray for us, please pray that:
1. God would pour out His Spirit in power, that we would have the boldness to speak His word, many would be convicted and signs, wonders and miracles would follow us everywhere we go.
2. We would be able to be fully pleasing to God in all of our conduct, that all of our speech, thoughts, actions, etc. would be out of love for our great God and for others.
3. We just want God to be glorified, so please pray that God would help us live for Him wholeheartedly every single day!