I Have A Dream.

I have a dream where there will be no more world hunger for every spirit will be fed.
I have a dream where the homeless will find their place in the Kingdom.
I have a dream where the next generation will be the result of the greatest revival and reformation this universe has ever seen.
I have a dream where people who have never heard the name "Jesus" will accept Him as their Saviour.
I have a dream where cancers and tumors and STD's and arthritis and MD and every disease will cower and release its prisoners at that very same name of "Jesus."
These are all amazing dreams, but none of them move my heart the very way this next one can.
You see, I have the ULTIMATE dream. 
And it's not even mine, it's my Father's dream.
It's a dream that has been long forsaken and aborted by many before me.
It is a dream that has turned heads, dropped mouths, and engaged mockery.
But it's still my dream.

I have a dream of changing the world by changing one city.
I have spent the last two years wondering how on earth this ridiculous, impossible dream could happen.
Granted, I still haven't gotten the answer, but at least I have the guts and courage to run after it.
No, I don't know if this will happen in my lifetime, or ever at all.
But I can still dream.
And I will still dream.

I dream of Las Vegas becoming transformed and Sin City becoming Saint City.

(I can hear the laughters, mockery, and clicking of the red "X" already.)

Again, I say, I dream of being used as either the forerunner or the arrow or the gunpowder or the dynamite to light the fire of God in Sin City to consume all the darkness and cast away the shadows with the light of the explosion of the Holy Spirit who has been waiting all eternity to break free. 

Many have this misconstrued conception that Las Vegas is the devil's playground.
On the contrary, my friends, it is a deceptive lie that has become a truth because we as a people have spoken it into existence condemning my fair city to become nothing more than a brothel of drinking, gambling, and vacations. 
However, let us flip the script: Can you imagine how Las Vegas must have been prior to the fall of man? What did it look like? It's not like only the Garden of Eden inhabited the Earth before the fall, Las Vegas was there too, and it was under God's dominion for He spoke it into existence.

Can you imagine?

The Strip, which is the most famous 10 mile stretch of land in the world for it's "capital entertainment of the world" is actually NOT located in Las Vegas. It is located in a small city right next to the border of Vegas called, "Paradise." (Now we're getting ironic!) While the Strip is paradise to the flesh, can you imagine what it would look like if it were Paradise to the Spirit?

Can you imagine that?
Can you?

That is how Las Vegas was originally designed! It was first inhabited by man, the Mormons and Mobsters (what a combo!), and transformed into what it is today over time. But prior to man and sin invading the Earth and messing with what God once saw as "Good" (Genesis 1:10), Las Vegas and The Strip were once in true Paradise. Now, if we were to switch it back to the "Good Paradise" and reverse the curse of Canaan in the land (which even the land of Canaan soon became the Israelites' Promise Land after being a cursed place from Noah's son's sin--Genesis 9:18-27) can you imagine how the Spirit would be fed and well rested? Las Vegas is a place known to rest and "escape" from the world to give your flesh what it wants. Can you even think on a microscopic level how that would look if it was reversed to feed the vacation and rest your spirit needs? 

Now, here's the reality of my dream. It's coming, soon. It's already starting to happen.

In 2010, Las Vegas was known for having the highest number of growing churches in America.

In the ghetto area, F Street and Washington, when I first joined with YWAM Vegas in Feb 2011, it was ranked as the 3rd worst neighborhood in the nation with an average of 3-4 murders per month in a 3 square mile radius.
In that same neighborhood, in that same three square mile radius, there were over 50 churches.
In that same neighborhood, by the time I left to move to Dallas for school in August 2012 the crime rate dropped and it was now ranked as the 8th worst neighborhood in the nation. 

While also working with YWAM, I was able to witness first hand 100's give their lives to Christ in those 18 months I worked with them.
I got to meet a young homeless teen who I had the honor to pray for, and was later found by him 6 months later when he told me he got a good job and a house waiting for him and his girlfriend.
I also met an ex-convict/gangster who had just been released from prison only a few hours before and was privileged to pray with him and witness to him for three hours, and give him a Bible, then take him to a rehab center because he was "done with this [crap] lifestyle."

I also got to see the Holy Spirit move in the lives of thousands as each week teams of youth groups and college kids came to do outreaches with us--one of which involved carrying a 7 foot cross up and down the Strip for almost two hours.
This past Memorial Day weekend, many churches were able to play 50 HOURS of non-stop praise and worship on the infamous Fremont Street where thousands gathered, and hundreds more gave their lives to Christ. 

I am simply one person who served the Lord wholeheartedly for a mere 18 months.
There are 2.5 million people who live in Las Vegas, with 139,000 tourists visiting every year.
Of those 2.5 million, there are hundreds upon thousands of Christians doing so much more than I ever could, working with thousands more than I could ever reach. 

Revival is not on its way, it's here. It just has yet to reach it's peak point or be recognized as present.

I have a dream of being used to bring this revival to the city.
I am not entirely sure how I will get there, but I know with the power of Christ inside of me--who has made every miracle I have witnessed possible thus far in my hometown--all things are possible. I will see this revival someday, and I believe it's coming soon. 

Now, I must urge you, brothers and sisters. Pray with me. Pray for this city. If you judge it for its sins remember the Lord will judge you just as harshly for yours. There is no difference between the sins of Las Vegas from the sins of your church. Every sin is viewed the same in God's eyes. The only difference between Las Vegas and your church is we broadcast it while church-members try to hide it or lie.

Intercede with me on behalf of my city. The Lord told Jonah to go and preach the news of a coming disaster that would wipe Ninevah clear off the face of the Earth. Eventually, Jonah went and did just that. What was the result?

Jonah 6:10

"When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:

“By the decree of the king and his nobles:
Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”

When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened."

Notice how the King decreed that neither man NOR animal would eat or drink? And what was their result? God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did NOT BRING DESTRUCTION.

Instead of condemning and getting a front row seat to the destruction of my beloved hometown, which, by the way, the Lord also still loves and lives in, why not come with me in times of praying and fasting for a revival of turning our hearts and calling urgently on God. Ninevah was far worse off than Las Vegas ever will be or could become. (True story.)

So if God can save Ninevah and have every tongue confess, which the Bible claims will happen someday, why can't He do the same for "Sin City?" Capernaum was the main city for Jesus' ministry station, but it was also the "Sin City" of its day. Jesus allowed his feet to be washed by a prostitute, not a priest. Jesus had compassion on the demon-possessed not just the sane. Jesus wasn't afraid to touch the leper who was an outcast for the 'unpardonable' sin he must have committed to receive leprosy in the first place to heal him. 

Why are we so afraid to go where Jesus would come if He were here on Earth today?
Well, I'm not anymore. 

After healing the man with the legion of demons the Lord refused to let him become the 13th disciple. Instead he said two simple words that changed an entire city, "Go Home."
I am going through my own stage of deliverances from flesh while here in Dallas, but once I am completely delivered from my own legion I intend to do exactly what the Lord has told me to, I'm going home. Because home is where my heart is. And if my heart is aligned with Jesus', then this must mean He still has a heart of hope for my home.

I have a dream.
I have a destiny.
I have hope.
I am going to change the world through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit by changing one city.

"The bigger you dream, the bigger you live."

Pr. Jerome Ocampo, Jesus Flock Church 

-Saint