Joe & Becky Cruse

We awakened early this morning to pray and seek the Lord and God dropped a unique and exciting word in our hearts for this ministry SURGE

The troop surge is a phrase commonly used to describe President George W. Bush’s plan to increase the number of American troops deployed to the Iraq War to provide security to Baghdad and Al Anbar Province. The surge was developed under the working title “The New Way Forward.” It was announced by Bush on January 10, 2007 during a national television speech. Bush ordered the deployment of five additional U.S brigades to Iraq, mainly to the capital Baghdad, and extended the tour of 4,000 Marines already in Iraq.

Friends, God is bringing a surge, more troops, (if you will) to further silence the forces of darkness in this SW area of Austin! Together, we are moving like a mighty army, and with the Lord as our Commander in Chief, no foe can stand in our way!

In this time when our nation is unsure and unsettled, God has not called us to retreat—rather, we are moving forward. With the opportunity for acquisition of the 26 acres between Austin and Dripping Springs, the blessing of free usage of an air dome, (over 12,000 ft of usable space) and the willing hearts of the CWC family, we have received our marching orders from heaven and His timing is always perfect!

God has been so faithful to us as we begin our 8th year here in Austin, September 7th, (10 years as a ministry) and the need for expansion is now upon us. At the onset, the air dome will allow for a 500 seat auditorium and 10-12 large classrooms that will enable us to receive more students in the two schools, Austin City Academy and Institute for the Arts. As the church continues to grow, we will expand the area under the dome to accommodate 750 seats and purchase modular classrooms to meet the needs of the growing schools. Doing multiple services will allow us to minister to upwards of 1500 people on the weekends, meanwhile, putting our resources into the purchase of property as opposed to rental space or building structures.

The question is–are you to be a part of that surge? If so, in what way? Well, we certainly covet your prayers during this important time for there is much to do. We are in the beginning stages of preparing the land to set the air dome on, and believe that God’s timing for us to be out of the lease space and in our new home is JANUARY 2009.

God has given us strict instructions to not burden the people with the weight of stewardship programs and man’s ways to obtain property but to encourage people to do what they can do, as the Lord leads them. Friends, would you pray about your part? Whether it is to pray, to come help us by volunteering your time, or to sow a seed into the land, if we all do our part, God’s kingdom will be advanced here in the Central Texas area as well as around the world.

There are timelines before us and the details of these will be forthcoming. As you can see, we are very excited.

God is sending forth laborers into the harvest fields to “put in the sickle and reap the harvest”. Are you one of those God has called? If so, let us hear from you. You may email us at worshipworksmin@aol.com or call the office
@ 512 301 0471. If God is speaking to you about sowing a financial gift, you may give online @ www.wmi.global.org and click on the icon “GIVE”, or make your checks out to CWC and mark it VICTORY. (this will designate it directly to the property)

Our mailing address is P.O. Box 92737
Austin, Texas 78737

We close by sending a genuine and heartfelt thanks to those of you that have stood with us over the years. You know us well enough to know by now, we aren’t about gimmicks or manipulation. Those games aren’t allowed in the “Levites”! We just wanted to share the victories God has done and simply ask you to pray and obey.

Soldiers of the New Way Forward,
Ps Joe and Becky and the team

We had a super time with our family, Ps Jane and Dean Bearden, and their new church, Journey Church this past weekend. On Sunday night, the building they are leasing was packed to the max with hungry people and God showed up and showed out! After a powerful worship time, Ps Jody shared his testimony on hunger and then the entire team cleared the chairs and prayed for all those in attendance. I can truthfully say, that no one left the same way they came! What made the difference? The Power of God!

We know God has something great in store for the Calallen area of Corpus Christi, TX. Here’s a shameless plug–if you are in the CC area and are looking for a spirit filled church that loves people and the power of God with a passion, we invite you to check out www.journeychurchcorpuschristi.com for more information. The reports are flooding in of restoration and healing. GOD IS IN THE HOUSE! NO DOUBT!More later–Ps Joe and Becky

Guess what? Its that time again, just a reminder to parents and students alike!

Austin City Academy and Institute for the Arts are back in session Monday, August 25th. This promises to be our best year yet.

ACAs Parent Orientation is Thursday the 21st @ 7:00 pm and IFTAs Orientation is Friday the 22nd. First year students meet at 10:00 am to register and returning students meet @ 6:00 pm.

To celebrate, join us for our annual Back To School Bash, Sunday August 24th. CWC’s Kids Ministry will be hosting a big fair day with booths and prizes and every school age child goes home with a new backpack full of school supplies. Four12 (CWC’s youth ministry) is pulling out all the stops with a Sunday Night Party sure to please! Grab your friends and join us.

Psalms 62:11 says God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.

What an absolutely incredible Sunday! For those of you that had to miss, we want to catch you up to speed—Pastor Joe brought one of the greatest messages that I believe everyone should hear.

So many people came up and asked him if they could get a copy of the notes from the sermon!I thought it would be a blessing if we just made the message available through our weekly prayer directive but if you want a live recording, you may contact the office @ worshipworksmin@aol.com or j-tomac@hotmail.com and request your cd copy.

The title of the message was, “What’s the Difference? The Power of God”. Get yours today! Blessings, Joe and Becky

It’s exciting to see what God is doing in the church these days. God is moving by His spirit and peoples’ lives are being changed and blessed daily! Psalms 103:2 says, “Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits”. Daily He blesses us with the benefits of life, salvation, love, grace, and mercy, just to name a few. How can we not praise Him?

Speaking of praise, have you ever noticed that much of the Psalms is actually prayers that David and others wrote? I once heard someone say that the highest form of prayer is praise and worship and for those of us who consider ourselves worshippers, that is certainly true. Because David was a man after God’s own heart, I believe his songs were his prayers and his prayers were his songs! He was a man who knew his God!

Let’s dive into the Psalms to more clearly see the daily prayer confessions of a worshipper like King David.

Psalms 16:8-11 I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall restb in hope. 10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Psalms 45:7 Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

Psalms 51:10-12 “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a rightb spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.”

Psalms 51:15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

Psalms 34:1 I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Psalm 9:2 I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders.

Psalm 16:7 I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.

Psalm 40:3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.

And so on, and so on, and so on….

For all of King David’s faults and failures, he loved the Lord and loved to praise his God. My challenge for us this week is to get a few of these psalms in our mouths and meditate on them. Try putting them to your own music! Trust me, God loves your personal song. Even the apostle Paul knew the power of worship. He speaks of praying and singing together in 1 Corinthians 14:15.

“What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also”.

When regular prayer seems a drudgery, try making your prayers your songs! Be Blessed–Joe and Becky