This week has been intense. I have learned so many new things that will be beneficial to my walk, and Satan is throwing a fit. I have been attacked so much this week in my ability to withstand distractions, to focus and listen. But the Lord is faithful and it's Friday! Our lectures were on Intercession and Worship, and our speaker rocked my socks off. A few key points for your pondering over the next few days:
-First off, as believers, we have to ability to hear God's voice as clearly as we hear someone talking on the phone. He desires that intimate of a relationship with us. In hearing His voice we have to clear out all other voices.
-we learned about intercession and how it is different from prayer. Intercession is getting specifics from God on how to pray for individuals , groups, or situations. We clear out our own ideas of what needs to be prayed for and ask the Lord what He would have us pray for.
-Steps to intercede: Praise God first. He is worthy, even when we're not in the mood. Confess sin areas in your life. Ask the Lord to reveal areas that might be hindering you from hearing Him better. Lay down your own thoughts, desires, or distractions. Resist the enemy. He gets nervous when he knows we're about to hear from God and will attack in your weakest areas. but he has no authority in our times of prayer. Invite the Holy Spirit to come and give you a clear picture, word, vision of what needs to be prayed for.
The Lord really moved and spoke specifically this week. It was amazing! Like nothing I've ever experienced. Today, I was feeling praticularly discouraged before our intercession time. I was begging the Lord to show me that I was still on the right path with Him, still in step with Him. As the worship leader played on, I had my head bowed, eyes closed, and I distinctly heard a cello playing. I looked up to where the band was, and obviously there was no cello player there, but I could still hear it. undeniably, the cello. I closed my eyes and asked the Lord to reveal to me what it meant. I got a vision of the Lord playing the cello, and I was the instrument! if any of you has ever seen a really good cello player, you know that the instrument looks like it's just an extension of the player's own body. it's captivatingly beautiful to watch. the Lord began to show me through the vision that He wanted me to be an extension of His own body, His own will, He wanted me to make music that would be good and pleasing to His ears, with my life. It was such and amazing and intimate time with Him! I'm praying that you all will experience the fullness of His love and desire to meet with you this week!
The last week and a half me and a friend of mine, Brendan, have been assigned the various plumbing jobs around base for our work duties. I know NOTHING about plumbing. basically I hold the wrench while Brendan does the work. haha. but it has been a great time to serve the body here on base and learn some new things that might come in handy later in life. today I will be learning how to drive on the left side of the road so I can go to the plumbing store! ahhh! pray for me! haha, driving a standard on the left side of the road sounds a bit scary, but should be an adventure.
I love and miss you all!!!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Friday, October 19, 2007
freedom
I am FREE at last!!!
this week's lectures covered sin, forgiveness and repentance, with a climactic finish last night. starting at 9am and finishing at 1am, we as a team confessed our sins before God and eachother. when it was my turn I went up to the front of the room, sat between my small group leader and my school leader and bawled my eyes out as I confessed and asked forgiveness for the sins of my life. I asked forgiveness for my idolatry; for putting the acceptance and approval of others in first and foremost in my life. I asked forgiveness for believing the lies of the enemy, that I'm not good enough, I'm worthless, no one likes me, I'm a tag-along. Forgiveness for hating myself. For lying, for materialism, for not believing in God's goodness. For doubting Him. The Lord heard my cry and gave mercy abundantly and forgave deeply. and I am FREE. Satan can no longer use my insecurities against me, for they are at the foot of the cross. No longer use my sin against me, for they are also at the foot of the cross, forgotten. For the first time in my life, I am excited about the future! I am hopeful. I'm expectant of great things to happen. After my prayer of confession, my leaders prayed over me and received words from the Lord for me about a role of leadership. The Lord was telling them that He is raising me up to lead others and I need to step into that role, move forward, press on, never look back. I'm finally free to do what He is calling me to do!
The Lord gave me this verse as the night wore on last night, as more and more broken people came to the altar to lay the burdens down:
from Isaiah 61 and 62
I will bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor... Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance... You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD's hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah ; for the LORD will take delight in you.
This is the promise He has given me. He has turned my ashes into beauty and I feel like I am seeing Him clearly for the first time.
In other news: we have found out some interesting things concerning our time of outreach at the end of the school. Please pray fervently for these new developments. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous about it.
The original plan was to spend two and a half months in Jakarta, Indonesia for our outreach phase. Unfortunately, the Indonesian travel authorities have caught on to all the YWAMers being sent into their country and are not so happy about it. They have shut it down to us, unless we are only staying there for one month. As a result, we will only get to be in Jakarta for one month and will be spending the other month and a half elsewhere. Each person will have a choice for where they go for the second half. The choices are still up in the air, but I think Egypt, the "Stan" countries (i.e. Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, etc.), and North Eastern Africa will be some of the options. At this point, I'm not sure where the Lord is leading, but I have a feeling I will end up in one of the "Stan" countries. Here's the part where I am going to need serious prayer: as you can imagine, the new developments are going to increase the amount of money we need for outreach by quite a lot. As it stands right now it look like I am going to be lacking about $3000-$3500, instead of the $800 I thought I was lacking. All I can say is that, the Lord knew this was going to happen before any of us did and He is more than capable of supplying our needs. Our whole team is lacking money, so we are in it together, but I would appreciate some serious intercession at home, as all of my resources have already been tapped. I will give more updates on this as they come.
In the mean time, I miss everyone a lot! I love you all! keep checking for more amazing things the Lord is doing in me. Thank you for your faithful prayers and encouraging notes.
this week's lectures covered sin, forgiveness and repentance, with a climactic finish last night. starting at 9am and finishing at 1am, we as a team confessed our sins before God and eachother. when it was my turn I went up to the front of the room, sat between my small group leader and my school leader and bawled my eyes out as I confessed and asked forgiveness for the sins of my life. I asked forgiveness for my idolatry; for putting the acceptance and approval of others in first and foremost in my life. I asked forgiveness for believing the lies of the enemy, that I'm not good enough, I'm worthless, no one likes me, I'm a tag-along. Forgiveness for hating myself. For lying, for materialism, for not believing in God's goodness. For doubting Him. The Lord heard my cry and gave mercy abundantly and forgave deeply. and I am FREE. Satan can no longer use my insecurities against me, for they are at the foot of the cross. No longer use my sin against me, for they are also at the foot of the cross, forgotten. For the first time in my life, I am excited about the future! I am hopeful. I'm expectant of great things to happen. After my prayer of confession, my leaders prayed over me and received words from the Lord for me about a role of leadership. The Lord was telling them that He is raising me up to lead others and I need to step into that role, move forward, press on, never look back. I'm finally free to do what He is calling me to do!
The Lord gave me this verse as the night wore on last night, as more and more broken people came to the altar to lay the burdens down:
from Isaiah 61 and 62
I will bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor... Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance... You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD's hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah ; for the LORD will take delight in you.
This is the promise He has given me. He has turned my ashes into beauty and I feel like I am seeing Him clearly for the first time.
In other news: we have found out some interesting things concerning our time of outreach at the end of the school. Please pray fervently for these new developments. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous about it.
The original plan was to spend two and a half months in Jakarta, Indonesia for our outreach phase. Unfortunately, the Indonesian travel authorities have caught on to all the YWAMers being sent into their country and are not so happy about it. They have shut it down to us, unless we are only staying there for one month. As a result, we will only get to be in Jakarta for one month and will be spending the other month and a half elsewhere. Each person will have a choice for where they go for the second half. The choices are still up in the air, but I think Egypt, the "Stan" countries (i.e. Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, etc.), and North Eastern Africa will be some of the options. At this point, I'm not sure where the Lord is leading, but I have a feeling I will end up in one of the "Stan" countries. Here's the part where I am going to need serious prayer: as you can imagine, the new developments are going to increase the amount of money we need for outreach by quite a lot. As it stands right now it look like I am going to be lacking about $3000-$3500, instead of the $800 I thought I was lacking. All I can say is that, the Lord knew this was going to happen before any of us did and He is more than capable of supplying our needs. Our whole team is lacking money, so we are in it together, but I would appreciate some serious intercession at home, as all of my resources have already been tapped. I will give more updates on this as they come.
In the mean time, I miss everyone a lot! I love you all! keep checking for more amazing things the Lord is doing in me. Thank you for your faithful prayers and encouraging notes.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Sabbath
It is Sunday here and absolutely perfect weather. I "slept in" (8 is typically as late as my body allows me to sleep) this morning and then woke up to work on my journal. We have homework pretty regularly, as it is a school, and keeping a detailed journal is one of our assignments. We have to take notes during lectures and then respond to the prompts in our journal. They tell us to be as creative as possible and often allow us to draw instead of write in response to the prompts. I'm really enjoying getting to express what the Lord is doing in my life.
I've made a few more close friends since the last time I wrote. One is another Kiwi guy, named Johnny. This guy CRACKS me up, it seems we have a lot in common in the area of movies, music, and books...so it's been really fun to have someone I can relate to. I also made friends with another German girl named Sara. She's totally cute when she can't think of the English word she's trying to say. I love her.
This week's lectures were on the character of God. After the first day of lectures, I was thinking, "Ok, that's nothing I haven't heard before." But the Lord has really been ripping me apart since then. Of course I've heard most of the characteristics of God before, but the Lord is revealing the areas in my life where I don't believe in His goodness. The last three nights He's woken me up for about two hours and just brought things to the surface that I have been hiding for a long time. Please pray for me as I work through these areas. Satan knows where my weaknesses are and he is attacking like crazy. I'm praying for release from past misconceptions about who God really is.
The internet is still not working on base, so no pictures yet, but I promise I will post some as soon as it is up and running. In the meantime, I am having a BLAST being part of this family. Family is the only word for the base here in Perth. There are over 365 staff and students living on or around the base, and we eat meals together almost every night. There are movie nights, ping pong games, people studying, at all hours of the day and night. We all have family chores and we all take care of eachother's needs. For the first time I feel like I am living out life like the apostles did. We have Friday night meetings every Friday night here, which is basically just like a church service. All of the staff and students come together for prayer, worship, the Word of the Lord. It was so neat this past Friday...all the children of staff members bring their sleeping bags and set them up at the back of the room, and read and play in their jammies while the service is going on. I LOVE it. How awesome would it be to grow up on a base like this? so cool. anyways....that's what's been going on around here. I miss everyone a lot. I will write again soon!
I've made a few more close friends since the last time I wrote. One is another Kiwi guy, named Johnny. This guy CRACKS me up, it seems we have a lot in common in the area of movies, music, and books...so it's been really fun to have someone I can relate to. I also made friends with another German girl named Sara. She's totally cute when she can't think of the English word she's trying to say. I love her.
This week's lectures were on the character of God. After the first day of lectures, I was thinking, "Ok, that's nothing I haven't heard before." But the Lord has really been ripping me apart since then. Of course I've heard most of the characteristics of God before, but the Lord is revealing the areas in my life where I don't believe in His goodness. The last three nights He's woken me up for about two hours and just brought things to the surface that I have been hiding for a long time. Please pray for me as I work through these areas. Satan knows where my weaknesses are and he is attacking like crazy. I'm praying for release from past misconceptions about who God really is.
The internet is still not working on base, so no pictures yet, but I promise I will post some as soon as it is up and running. In the meantime, I am having a BLAST being part of this family. Family is the only word for the base here in Perth. There are over 365 staff and students living on or around the base, and we eat meals together almost every night. There are movie nights, ping pong games, people studying, at all hours of the day and night. We all have family chores and we all take care of eachother's needs. For the first time I feel like I am living out life like the apostles did. We have Friday night meetings every Friday night here, which is basically just like a church service. All of the staff and students come together for prayer, worship, the Word of the Lord. It was so neat this past Friday...all the children of staff members bring their sleeping bags and set them up at the back of the room, and read and play in their jammies while the service is going on. I LOVE it. How awesome would it be to grow up on a base like this? so cool. anyways....that's what's been going on around here. I miss everyone a lot. I will write again soon!
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
the biggest, baddest blister you ever did see
I'm going to try and sum up the last 4 days in 20 minutes. The internet is not working on base and so I'm at an internet cafe, with only so much time to spare.
I'm here! after over 48 hours of travel, 5 layovers, and two monster blisters (thanks to San Francisco) I am here, and I am in love. Our school represents over 21 countries, everyone has a different accent and for the first time, I have one! I have been told by a few people, "how cool" my accent was. which is pretty bizarre. I'm also learning that it will be IMPOSSIBLE for me to come home without changing the way I talk. I have only been here for 2 days now, and am already noticing that I have changed the way I say certain things because of the people around me. I am not a poser. haha. I'm doing it without even realizing.
we had our first day of lectures today. this week we will spend time studying the character of God, and different misconceptions we may have about it, due to experiences in our life. should be good stuff. I cannot wait to hear from the Lord.
He has been so faithful in the area of making friends. everyone here is SO friendly and inclusive. a few of us went out for tea last night and got to spend some time getting to know eachother. there are 53 in our school, so it is brutal trying to learn everyone's name. so far, I have met a Kiwi named Stephanie, a German guy named Christian, a Canadian guy named Joshua, and a girl named Esther from Hong Kong...we've had a lot a fun talking about Hong Kong and how much I love it. more updates to follow, for new friends.
also, as soon as the internet is up and running on base I will post a picture of my blister from San Francisco...it is NASTY.
that's all for now. keep praying, and show some love in the comment section. I hate being reduced to asking for comments, I'm not as needy as it sounds...just curious who reads this thing. I love you all and miss you madly!
I'm here! after over 48 hours of travel, 5 layovers, and two monster blisters (thanks to San Francisco) I am here, and I am in love. Our school represents over 21 countries, everyone has a different accent and for the first time, I have one! I have been told by a few people, "how cool" my accent was. which is pretty bizarre. I'm also learning that it will be IMPOSSIBLE for me to come home without changing the way I talk. I have only been here for 2 days now, and am already noticing that I have changed the way I say certain things because of the people around me. I am not a poser. haha. I'm doing it without even realizing.
we had our first day of lectures today. this week we will spend time studying the character of God, and different misconceptions we may have about it, due to experiences in our life. should be good stuff. I cannot wait to hear from the Lord.
He has been so faithful in the area of making friends. everyone here is SO friendly and inclusive. a few of us went out for tea last night and got to spend some time getting to know eachother. there are 53 in our school, so it is brutal trying to learn everyone's name. so far, I have met a Kiwi named Stephanie, a German guy named Christian, a Canadian guy named Joshua, and a girl named Esther from Hong Kong...we've had a lot a fun talking about Hong Kong and how much I love it. more updates to follow, for new friends.
also, as soon as the internet is up and running on base I will post a picture of my blister from San Francisco...it is NASTY.
that's all for now. keep praying, and show some love in the comment section. I hate being reduced to asking for comments, I'm not as needy as it sounds...just curious who reads this thing. I love you all and miss you madly!
Sunday, October 7, 2007
will you go to San Francisco
It is 7:20am in San Francisco. I have been awake for 3 hours, just staring at the springs of the top bunk bed. For someone who already wakes up outrageously early, the 2 hour California time change is no good. So now I have to figure out how to keep myself entertained until 9:30 when church starts.
My send off party on Friday night rocked my socks off. Thank you to anyone who made it out there. I love you all and cannot even express how much it meant to me to have so many friends and family building me up in prayer. Some amazing words of the Lord were spoken over me and have given that extra ounce of courage I needed to step out into this new life. I'm sitting in a hostel in San Francisco and it still has not set in what I'm about to do. Granted it's only six months, but this really is the "first day of the rest of my life", as it were.
After church, I'm going to wander around the city and see the sights. I already love this city. The weather is perfect. I was hoping I would get a taste of fall before I head back into summer. I feel like I'm cheating though. I feel like I should have to wait for the "fall" weather of Austin, TX (i.e. NOT blistering hot) like everyone else. All I had to do was hop on a plane and I step off to be greeted by 62 degree weather. It's wonderful nonetheless.
In other news, if any of you have tried to post comments on any of my blogs but have been unable to because you don't have a google account, you should be able to now. I have fixed the problem and now anyone should be able to post a reply. I would love to hear from you as I begin to share what is going on in my adventure! It's always encouraging.
Well, the next time I post probably won't be until I'm in Australia! So, pray for safe travel. Pray my bags won't get lost (I'm particularly paranoid about this), pray I won't have to climb any more stairs with my suitcase (a whopping 85 lbs), and pray I don't get too sick on the plane.
Until then!
My send off party on Friday night rocked my socks off. Thank you to anyone who made it out there. I love you all and cannot even express how much it meant to me to have so many friends and family building me up in prayer. Some amazing words of the Lord were spoken over me and have given that extra ounce of courage I needed to step out into this new life. I'm sitting in a hostel in San Francisco and it still has not set in what I'm about to do. Granted it's only six months, but this really is the "first day of the rest of my life", as it were.
After church, I'm going to wander around the city and see the sights. I already love this city. The weather is perfect. I was hoping I would get a taste of fall before I head back into summer. I feel like I'm cheating though. I feel like I should have to wait for the "fall" weather of Austin, TX (i.e. NOT blistering hot) like everyone else. All I had to do was hop on a plane and I step off to be greeted by 62 degree weather. It's wonderful nonetheless.
In other news, if any of you have tried to post comments on any of my blogs but have been unable to because you don't have a google account, you should be able to now. I have fixed the problem and now anyone should be able to post a reply. I would love to hear from you as I begin to share what is going on in my adventure! It's always encouraging.
Well, the next time I post probably won't be until I'm in Australia! So, pray for safe travel. Pray my bags won't get lost (I'm particularly paranoid about this), pray I won't have to climb any more stairs with my suitcase (a whopping 85 lbs), and pray I don't get too sick on the plane.
Until then!
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