One great week!

We are officially addicted to rice and chai tea....and, a few of the highlights for us over the last week were ‘I Love Darj’ and visiting the village ‘Salu’. I Love Darj went very well. About 6+ churches participated in the even, as well as the municipality of Darj and a couple other organizations. Hundreds of people wearing I Love Darj shirts hit the streets of Darj and even surrounding villages to clean up the city. Some picked up garbage from the streets, gutters and streams, others scraped and painted walls, some gave out food to the homeless and still others served chai to people passing by. We set up a stage at the main gathering place of the city, and in the afternoon the program began. Church groups came up and performed dramas, dances and songs, pastors spoke, Jeff, Josiah and Lydia performed a worship song, and even a well known Christian band from Nepal played for quite a while. We wrapped up the night with a slide show of the day’s events and a prayer. Everything went very well, and we all know that God made a lot of impact in the people of Darj that day. 

On Wednesday our team headed off to a small village called Salu and stayed through Sunday. We travelled “public transport” by jeep (14 people stuffed inside one jeep, 1 person local on the back) and then walked down the mountainside to the Salu. We stayed with a Christian woman named Rishma. It was amazing to see how God was using Rishma in this village. She was called by God to this village, and began ministry there. She runs a small orphanage with around 15 children by herself, and started a church in the orphanage. She also teaches and oversees the other primary teachers of the surrounding villages. 

We had a mini I Love Darj day were we widened the small trails winding down the mountain, cleaned up garbage and washed the public toilet. We spent a lot of time with the children Salu takes care of. The children were amazing. The absolutely loved us and loved God. We spent hours playing games with them and carrying them around. They had no father figure in their lives, so it meant so much to them. Every night the children got together to play worship songs on an out of tune guitar and bongos. Then they would ask us to share from the Bible with them, and then would break out into Korean style prayer to wrap up. It was amazing to see children who were so hungry for God, and also so obedient and hard working around the orphanage. While there, there were three church gatherings, one baptism and short service, an evening fellowship, and then church on Sunday. The people were hungry for God, and also asked a couple of us to share at every gathering. We were also able to share at the end of year teacher’s meeting and the next day at the parent/child meeting. It was definitely hard for all of us to leave the children of the village. 

One little fun event that Jeff, Josias and myself will always remember was Saturday. After a way way too large lunch that were just managed to stuff down, the three of us went on a walk to the next village with one of the local men. On the way, we were invited to stop for some chai. After a cup of chai, we thought we would be on our way, but instead were invited into a small celebration hall where a wedding celebration was going on. We were served more chai, and then more food. We all managed to stuff down another plate of rice, meat, vegies and some candied bread. Then, they asked us to dance. We tried to turn down the offer, but after several minutes, with everyone in the building surrounding us, we knew we had to dance. So, the locals watched 3 white boys bust out some not-so-professional dance moves. They joined in with us after a few minutes, and eventually we left and went on to the village. And, we will always remember our  ‘cultural experience!’

We’re now back in Darj, just getting ready to head out for Nagaland. We will be there for the week helping out at a large Y. conference of all the leaders in North East India. Then, we’ll be in Siliguri for till the next Wednesday doing some more ministry. We’ll let you know all about it when we get back! Please continue to pray for us! 

mmm... God is so good!!

I’ve been realizing lately how good God is, and how worthy He is of our focus. I’ve begun to realize, that even if God had no plan for my life, even if He never gave me a single blessing in this life, even if nothing ever worked out for me in life, God would still be worthy of everything I have to offer Him. The fact that He created me, and He cared about me enough for Jesus to die for me/us, and that one day I’ll be in Heaven with Him is enough. It definitely wasn’t easy to accept this. I have always felt like I deserve God’s blessing, that I deserve for Him to give me direction in life, that I deserve good things from God. And, I’ve come to realize that I really don’t deserve anything from God. I don’t even deserve what Jesus did on the cross to save me/us. 

     I began to realize over DTS that God really is worthy, and that even when I don’t feel like it, I need to take time to focus on God, and even when I don’t feel like worshipping, I need to. That no matter how I feel, God is still worthy of everything I can possible give him. And, it was really amazing, as how I did worship God and focus on Him when I didn’t feel like it, He filled me up. God did draw me closer to Himself, and He has given me direction. The fact that God cares so much about me that He is willing to bless me and draw me closer to Him even though I don’t deserve it is amazing. 

     I have found it more difficult here in India. Even after worshipping God, I haven’t felt filled. But, I still focus on God, because He is worthy. Its tough going through a time of testing like this; not feeling like God is very close. (Not being able to speak Nepali sometimes makes me feel a bit useless, and not being able to see the results of what we do here is tough too). But, I still know God is worthy, and I will still give Him my focus. One really encouraging things for me is, that I know that I will go through tests in my life, but I know that I won’t stay in them forever. Even though I don’t deserve God’s love or blessings, He still gives them to me. He brings us through these times of testing, and afterwards fills us more than we ever thought possible. I’ve already seen this in my life, and its so amazing knowing that God will continue to fill me up. Knowing that there is no end to God’s love, there is no cut off point where God decides we’ve had enough. As I chase after God and give Him my focus, He will always keep filling me, even if there are time that I feel far from God, He will bring me through them and give me more! More of His love, more purpose, more peace, more contentment, more love for others. 

     Its pretty cool looking back over the last 5 years, and seeing that as I gave up things I thought would make me happy, God continually gave me more and more joy. I can hardly express with words, the joy that God has given me in life. Seeing that God has reasons for the things He has asks me to give up. Seeing that those things were really pushing me down, and hurting me. Its pretty amazing looking back and seeing the change that God has made in me. Especially when it comes to actually having relationship with God. I hope that one day I can really put into words how good God is, and how good He has been to me, even though I have never deserved His goodness. He has never stopped loving me     

ps. He has never stopped loving any of you either.   ;)    

On to India!!

So, we were only a couple hours into our first flight on our way to India, and God was already starting to hit me hard. I was watching a movie, and God began to build up my heart for the lost: both the lost in India, but only here in Australia, and Canada and so on...  And God kept building that passion in my heart, until I finally just had to shut the movie on and cry with God. I finally understood the heart that God has for the people who don't know Him, and the people that know Him, but don't care to follow. God showed me just a small piece of His heart for those people, and it was enough to put me in tears.
     I guess it really blew me away. Here is God, perfect and so amazing, so huge. He really doesn't need us, but He still cares so much for us. He is still so good to us. He gives us to many things in life that we are able to enjoy. When we pursue Him, He fills us. When we surrender and obey, He uses us and gives us purpose. Its so amazing, and God is so so good. I guess the main thing I've been learning over the last 2 weeks is; just how good God is. He is so good to me, He's so good to us all. He's never unwilling to give us another shot at following Him. He's never unwilling to forgive us! And He gives us so much that we really just don't deserve. Yep, thats about it... God's just been revealing to me how amazing and good He really is! and its pretty sweet! :)

India!

Hey Everyone,
     Team India is heading off from the YWAM base here in Brisbane at 6 am Saturday morning! (21st Nov.) We'll be stopping over in Singapore for a few hours, and then continuing on to Calcutta, arriving around 11pm India time. We've got a hotel booked for the night, and in the morning we have to buy train tickets, which we will be taking up to Darjeeling, about a 14 hour train ride. There are a few ministry opportunities already put together for us, but most opportunities come up last second. I'll post again in India when I have the chance to let you know what we've been doing!
     Jonathan

Relationship...

     Relationship has been around forever - the relationship between God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And then God created us. God didn't need to create us, there is nothing we can do that will add to God or take away, but He chose to create us anyways. God created us to show His amazing love! We were created for relationship, both between God and between others. In the beginning our relationship with God was perfect. But, then man sinned and broke that relationship. And since then, the root of every problem we have ever faced, has been a result of a broken relationship. (I had to think about this for a minute when I first read it, so take a second if you need to as well.)
     This applies to our relationship between us and God, and between us and others. The result of broken relationships is shown in every issue: hatred, murder, rape, divorce, abortion, poverty, homelessness, war, abuse, child slavery & sweat shops, issues between parents and children, with co-workers/employers... and so on. If you trace these issues back to their roots, you will realize that they were caused by a breakdown in relationship/dis-functional relationship. This is because so many of us have never learned to love.
     In 2 Corinthians 13, Paul talks about love. Paul speaks of amazing things that we can do or posses, but says, if we do not love, then these things are nothing. If we cannot relate with others and show them love, then what we do is nothing. In fact, loving God and loving others is so closely related, that we cannot even love God if we don't love the people around us. 1 John 4:20 "If anyone says, "I love God," but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, who he has seen, cannot love God, who he has not seen." (Our brother not meaning our literal blood brother, but the people we know and come into contact with).
     So, if the problem is relationships, then shouldn't we focus on how to be good relators?
I believe one of the biggest issues today is that us, Christians, do not even know how to relate with each other. In John 17:20-26, Jesus prays that we the church would be unified as one so that the world would believe. That is huge! If we the church could get along, and act as one, the world would come to know God! But, I think that is one of the biggest issues in the church today. We have so much trouble getting along. We have so many denominations. Often, we look down on others because of differences; cultural, baptismal, denomination, age/gender, nationality, intelligence, up-bringing, personalities, skill's/talents, strengths/weaknesses and so on. The fact is, we are all different, some of us very different. But that is supposed to be good. The church would never function properly if everyone was the same. We would all be really good at a couple things, but suck at others. God works all things together for good. God uses the differences in us so that we can function properly, reach out and be strong in all areas of society, to all types of people. These differences have torn the church apart when they were supposed to bring us together. We need to learn to celebrate our differences. Sometimes, we may just have to agree to disagree. (Sometimes people need correction, and we can't just ignore the issues and pretend they aren't there. But, I believe we often argue about small theological points that different denominations will never come to an agreement on, and it tears us apart.) Sometimes we need to agree to disagree. Is it not better to have two people in a church who have a disagreement on how to baptize, then two separate churches that the world looks at and ridicules. We need to act un humility and love, and "not look at ourselves more highly than we should." Romans 12:3 That is acting in pride, and pride will destroy and tear us, the church, apart.
     We will not always get along with people, sometimes there will be issues that we cannot come to an agreement on, but that doesn't mean we should stop treating them with respect and love. We still need to love our enemies, and the people who persecute us. In the end, that will show people that we are different, and we will be able to point out that difference comes from God. I think it is amazing when churches can get together and do activities together, youth groups, camps, services, youth services, outreaches into the community. Very often were one church may fail, two or three churches together will succeed.
     Well, I'm running out of time: I'm at McDonalds using their free WiFi :)     So, lets end with a challenge. And, that is to love and be a good relator to all the people around you ;)      I know its a challenge, and we will fail at times, but God gives us the strength to keep going and keep trying! People will see the difference in us, and then we can point them towards God. "They will know God is in us through our love!"

Road trip #2 !!

Hey everyone!!

So we’re half way through the road trip! We headed down to Byron Bay for the first week. We had lectures on Covenants, and it was really good. We studied the 7 main covenant God made throughout the Bible, and what they meant, how they worked. It was pretty cool. At first I was kinda wondering how it would all tie in, or how it was useful, but it really helped me understand parts of the old testament more. We teamed up with YWAM Byron Bay for lectures as well as for a couple chances to reach into the community. Byron Bay is a huge place for backpackers to hang out. We set up a few volley ball nets and played soccer down at the beach with backpackers and locals. Then on friday night we had a free bbq in one of the parks and a few people on the team played some live music. It was really good. A lot of people came out and everyone was quite open. We had a lot of good conversations. Saturday morning I got the chance to try surfing as well! Seven of us went out at 5 am and surfed for a couple hours before lectures, which was a lot of fun!

We packed up saturday afternoon and headed to Fingal Head, an aboriginal area, for the weekend. We hung out with the pastor and some friends of their saturday afternoon, and I got the chance to skin and eat a wallaby! One of our outreach teams led a small church service sunday morning, and visited a larger one at night. Monday morning we headed for Stradbroke Island. We took a fairy from the mainland over (there is no bridge) and we camped there till this past sunday. We had lectures on spiritual warfare, which was really good. We learned a lot of really practical stuff that we can all apply and pray out.

We also had team building games throughout the week. Angel, Stephanie and Dominic, who work on “Go Teams” at the WYAM base in Brisbane, put it all together. We split up into our four outreach teams and competed against each other. A lot of the games were similar to the games played on Survivor. It was a lot of fun. We also had to do a course through a swamp, getting through different obstacle courses, quizzes and eating not-so-enjoyable food, while being timed. It was really good. Our team wasn’t too good at the “creative” type games, but we did really good at most of the other ones, especially the physical games since we had four strong guys on the team! At the end of the week, our team placed first! God showed us some of our strengths and our weaknesses through the games, and we were able to talk about it and make some plans to get stronger in the weak areas. It was really good prep for going over seas, because we got to see how our team would function together in all kinds of different situations, how we would react to different things and all that. It was a really good week! The last two weeks we were always close to a beach, so in our spare time we got to do some swimming and surfing, which was really nice! We were also able to speak to some different people in the park and at the beach and share our faith with them!

Sunday we left the island and headed to Toowoomba. We’re staying at a campground 15 minutes outside of the city, and are having lectures on missions this week. We will also be doing a bit of outreach to youth. Next week we’ll be in Chinchilla for the week, and our focus is outreach. I’m not sure what we will be doing for outreach yet, but I’ll find out next week when we pull into Chinchilla.

Jonathan

     Over the last four weeks we have been having lectures back at the YWAM base in Brisbane. The lectures have focused on the areas of: Bible Study, Lordship, Relationships and Fear of the Lord, and I have really learned a lot over the last month. We have also been going into Brisbane on Friday nights for city Evangelism. It can be quite a hard culture to witness in. Much like cities back in Canada, everyone is very busy. It is hard to connect with people on the street. It had been good though. Our DTS splits up into groups of 3 or 4 and walks through the city. We have had the chance to talk with all kinds of different people, Christians, muslims, hippies, homeless and so on. It has really taught me to go on God's agenda. To listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit with what to say. Very often it is easy to go on our own agenda, and try to right away speak Jesus into their lives. When we allow room for the Holy Spirit we go on God's agenda. Sometimes God leads us to bring Him up right away, other times we talk for half an hour or an hour first. Our DTS has had the chance to really encourage and pray for quite a few individuals, and it has really been a great experience.

     Our DTS will be heading out on our next road trip Sunday night. We'll be going to Byron Bay, an aboriginal area, Stradford Island, Toowoomba, and Chinchilla over the next 4.5 weeks. We'll be having lectures and be doing some outreach at these locations. I probably won't have any internet access while we are on the road, but I will be journalling and will update the blog when we get back.
Jonathan

The Beach 2 Bush DTS will be heading out on our next road trip Sunday night. We'll be going to Byron Bay, an aboriginal area, Stradford Island, Toowoomba, and Chinchilla over the next 4.5 weeks. We'll be having lectures and be doing some outreach at these locations. I probably won't have any internet access while we are on the road, but I will be journalling and will update the blog when we get back.

    Jonathan

The 2nd half of the road trip!!

     We left the YWAM base in Airlie Beach early monday morning. We drove about six hours south west to a large ranch near the town of Springsure. The ranch owner Scott raised cattle for beef and also broke in and trained horses for rounding up cattle and such. We camped in four large tents in the yard at the ranch. Scott gave us a couple lectures of how God often works in our lives, while he was breaking in some horses, and showed us some similarities between the two. We took some time to rest, and also toured around the ranch.
    After three days, we packed up and drove into the town of Emerald. We split up into our four outreach groups, and visited some schools and led some religion classes. We also visited some churches, and led a small group meeting. There was a strong spirit of apathy/not caring/laziness on the town. We all felt it almost as soon as we came into the town. We ended up going on quite a few prayer walks, taking authority over Satan ect. During one of the prayer walks, one of the teams felt God telling them to do some worship in the park. So, they rounded up a guitar and a jambe, walked to a local park and started worshipping. After a while, a man drove up and used the bathroom in the park. When he walked out, he stopped and listened for a while. Eventually he approached them, and after talking for a few minutes, they found out he was also a Christian. He had hurt his back quite badly a few days before, and couldn't stand up straight and had trouble walking. He told them that he believe God wanted to heal him. So, the outreach group all laid their hands on his shoulders and started praying for healing. Part way through the prayer he was able to stand up straight, and at the end, he was able to run around and jump without any pain!
     I think its a pretty amazing example of how God uses us when we listen to Him. It was definitely out of everyone's comfort zone to go and sing worship songs in the middle of a park. But, they knew God was telling them to, so they did. And then, because they listened, they got to pray for a man and see God heal him! The other option would have been to not listen, and they would have never ended up in that situation and would not have seen God heal that man. Pretty amazing how God uses us when we obey!
     After about a week of outreach in Emerald, we packed up and heading to the Carnarvon Gorge state park. It was a massive Gorge, several hundred feet wide, and at least two hundred feet high on both sides. We saw dozens and dozens of kangaroos, and were even able to get close to some. We had lectures on worship while we were there, and also spent quite a bit of time together as outreach groups preparing for the outreach opportunities we were to have in the next town, as well as beginning to prep for our major outreach to India. We also spent most of our spare time hiking through the Gorge.
    We stayed at the gorge for 3 nights, and on the fourth day packed up and heading to the town of Roma, where we stayed in a church. Roma for the majority is a mining town with a population of about eight thousand. We pulled in on thursday, and for the next two days we visited schools and led religion classes, as well as helped out at their track and field day. On sunday our outreach group, Team India, led a service at a local church. We gave a couple testimonies, as well as the sermon. God led each of us in what to say, and it was amazing to see how everything everyone said all came together very well and focussed on the same point. Definitely led by God! We did some more children's ministries over the next couple days, and wednesday morning we packed up and headed back into Brisbane!
     Over the road trip, God did a lot of amazing things. We all grew a lot in our faith, and were stretched out of our comfort zones, where God was able to use us more effectively. We got to see a man give his life to God, see God heal several people, witness to many adults, teens and children, and learn to hear God better. And of course, we're all glad to be sleeping in beds back on base again!

On the Road!

I'm in the middle of a 3 and a half week roadtrip :)   

We left the Brisbane base at 4 am last saturday morning, and drove on up this way. We made a couple quick stops along the way, and arrived here at the Whitsunday YWAM base around 9 pm. Its pretty nice up here. We're about a 4 minutes drive from downtown Airlie Beach, and thats where the Whitsunday Islands and all that good stuff is. The base is a big rental house tucked away in the trees. Its actually technically rainforest. There's huge hills on all sides. We've seen lotsa snakes, lizards, spiders and even one frog.

  I got a nasty boil on my shoulder that was quite painful. I couldn't sleep on that side, and if anything touched it it really hurt, and my shoulder use was limited. So I went to the doctor, and they cut the hole in it bigger, pushed everything out that they could, and then packed in with gauze to stop it from closing up. Then I went back the next day, and they pulled out the gauze and squeezed it out again. Then they put jell in the hole so keep it from closing up for another day, and now its pretty much healed up.   They also gave me antibiotics, and pain killers. At first after they cut it open, it hurt almost as much as when I tore the rotator cuff in my shoulder.

     On tuesday, we went into town and did a prayer walk, and then thursday night we went into town to evangelize and invite people out the next day to the bbq we were having at the beach. Friday we had the bbq down at the beach, and we were able to talk to quite a few people. One guy who was talked to even came to Christ!! And, he's coming out to the church here on sunday! 

     During the week, we had lectures on the Holy Spirit, and learned about spiritual gifts. The guy who was teaching was a missionary, and had seen all kinds of miracles happen. People getting healed, prophecies, words of knowledge from God, God getting them out of intense situations, God directing them, and other miraculous signs, and speaking in tongues ect.  Also, during prayer times I prayed for a few different people, and God gave me pictures and words for them. Neither time did they make any sense to me, but I just told them anyways, and it ended up that what God gave me, really applied to the people and the situations they were going through. 

     Next we're doing some outreach next week in Emerald beach. We split into four groups for our outreaches, and when our group got together, God led us to do a high school outreach. Then God led certain people to speak, and it was really cool. Everything we got from God was confirmed by at least two people in our group. Tomorrow morning we're back on the road, heading down the coast to the town of Emerald where we will be doing the outreach.

Relationship...

     This past week we studied the topic, "Hearing the Voice of God," and intercession (praying for change). The most important thing I learned over this last week was actually about relationship. God desires to have relationship with us.
"Come near to God, and He will come near to you." James 4:8
In Exodus 33, God speaks with Moses, and later in the chapter, God even shows glory to Moses!
"I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." John 15:15
There are a ton of other verses that speak on this topic as well. God speaks about being our King, Shepherd, Friend, Heavenly Father, and our True Love. (Galations 1:10, Psalm 23, Proverbs 18:24, 1 John 3:1-2, Hosea 2:16).
    It should also be our desire to have a personal relationship with God. However, there are things in our lives that will stop us from having that kind of a close relationship with God. This week as we learned about hearing God's voice, and realized that there were a lot of things holding me back from having a close relationship with God. First of all, my focus was on God for the wrong reasons. I have always read my Bible and prayed and put focus on God in the past, but in reality, very little focus. When I started this DTS, I began to focus on God like crazy. I really wanted to hear God's voice, find out the next step. My intentions for spending more time with God were for me. I wanted to hear His voice, I wanted to know the next step, I wanted God's blessings in my life. Sometime we even treat God as if He is a dog. "Tell me this, guide me here, bless my job, I need this God, do that." Too often we only pray to God to bless us, and rarely do we ask God to draw us closer to Him, or to lead us in His direction, even if its not the direction we really want. I realized that I should be pursuing God not because of what He can do for me, but because of what He has done, and because of who He is. (Don't get me wrong. Hearing God's voice and finding out His plan is a good thing, but focussing on God just because you want those things isn't right).
     Other things that will keep us away from God are: anger, bitterness and ongoing sins in our lives that we don't want to remove. When we are angry at someone for a long period of time, that anger will begin to soak into us. Hatred is like a disease. It will begin to show itself in other areas of our lives, in other relationships. We will slowly become filled with hate, and it will pour out in any way it can. It will harden our hearts to God, and to the people around ourselves. It is the same with bitterness too. In fact, bitterness is a sign, that we have not truly forgiven, and are still holding someone's sins against them. We, (and when I say we, I include myself), often feel justified in our bitterness. Someone has done something against us, or something to hurt the people around us, people we care about. We decide to forgive the person, but we hold on. When past situations come into our minds, we focus on them, and our anger and bitterness come back up. This is a tough place to be in, because we know we are called to forgive, but sometimes we just aren't really sure how, or we don't even really want to.
     Coming into this week of lectures, I had bitterness in me. There had been people who I had been hurt by. (Not to mention, I'd hurt them as well). I had gotten over the hurt, and told myself I had forgiven. But in reality, I hadn't truly forgiven. I tried to put it behind me, but I was still bitter at the person. This showed through my actions and my speech. I treated the person decently, but put in no effort to heal the relationship. I decided it was more or less too late, and when I saw the person around I'd be nice, but that was about all.
     Over the last couple of weeks, I felt like there was something keeping from being close to God. This past week, God clearly showed me that I was still bitter, and I had to let go and truly forgive. And, heal the relationship that was broken. It wasn't exactly easy, and at points I wasn't sure if I wanted to. But, I know that God has forgiven me, which is incredible. We really don't deserve God's forgiveness, but He does forgive us! I've done so much over my life against God, and If God, who is perfect, and could choose to ignore and punish me forever, chooses to forgive me, then I must forgive those who sin against me. God also calls us to forgive.
"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." Matthew 6:14-15
     God helped me to forgive and begin to make the effort to rebuild the broken relationship. Sometimes however, it doesn't happen that quickly. We feel like we cannot forgive. This is when we have to ask God for His help, to work in our lives, and help us to forgive. Sometimes, we have to forgive on a daily basis. Every time the hurt that person has caused us comes into our mind, we need to choose to forgive again. It can be a long journey, but with God's help, we will come to a point where we really can forgive.
     When we are living in sin, and consistently choose sin over God, God will not grow close to us. We all know that we cannot stop God from loving, but God does have emotions. The Bible mentions numerous times how He was pleased or displeased, angry, glad, rejoiced ect. We can please God with our actions, and we can displease. For example, the church in Laodicea was no longer living for God, but had become lukewarm. They were choosing things of this world over God. God says, "I am about to spit you out of my mouth." Revelations 3:14-21. God calls them wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. God is not describing people He is in a close relationship with. They thought they were doing good enough, but they chose this world over God, and when we do so, God will not draw close to us.
     The coolest thing about this situation is, God gives them a chance! God says if anyone repents and accepts Him into their life, He will be with them!
     We can draw close to God, and God wants this! We can have an amazing relationship, and even hear God's voice and find out His direction for our lives. But, it takes effort, it takes forgiveness, and it means giving up things in life that are pulling us away from Him. But as live for God, and draw close to Him, He will draw close to us!
    Just so you know, I am not writing this to tell people how they are bad and sinning, I just want to pass on the amazing things I'm learning here on DTS, and hopefully those who read can also learn with me!
     Jonathan

First Lecture :)

So, today we had our first lecture, and dove into the topic, The Character and Nature of God.
     We started off by remember how life is about God. Its like a movie, where God is the main character, and we are basically one of thousands of extras, who are only seen for a moment. However, as we play our tiny part, we often begin to think that the movie is about us, when really it is all about God.
     The question was asked, do we truly know God. Not do we have knowledge of God, but do we know God on a personal level, in a relationship type of way.
     Sometimes people misrepresent who God is, and distort our view of Him. We need to allow our misunderstandings of who God is to be corrected by God. We need to grow to truly know God on a personal level. The Bible tells us constantly of different characteristics of God. This helps us to understand a bit of who God is, and that is very important. However, there is a huge difference between knowing who God is, and knowing God on a personal level.
     God wants us to know Him, to have a relationship with Him. However, to know God on a personal level takes persistence. God doesn't just reveal Himself to us because we prayed for an hour a couple nights in a row or fasted for a day. For example, when we want to build a relationship with someone around us, we need to take time to get to know them. Its not just going to happen over night, in a couple of conversations. We need to spend hours talking, asking questions, listening. Once we have built a relationship, we don't just stop communicating. We need to continue talking with that person, listening to their views, struggles and advice. If we stop spending time with that person, the relationship will fall apart. The same is true in our relationship with God. We aren't going to come to really know God, and have a relationship with Him in a couple of hours. Yes, every time we read, we will learn more about God, but to grow in a relationship takes persistence. On top of reading, we need to spend time praying, asking God to work in our lives. Not to make our lives perfect, and to provide us with all we want, because after all the movie isn't about us. We need to ask God to build us into people who can be used by Him for His good. We need to ask God to point out areas in our lives that need change. We need to confess our sins, and actually Try to rid them from our lives. We will never be perfect, but when we don't care and simply continue sinning, living life however we want, this will drag us away from God. God looks for a willing heart, a heart that wants to follow, a person who pursues God and pursues purity. We also need to take time to be still and quiet, and simply listen for God's whisper. When we pursue God persistently, God will reveal Himself to us. He will show us His characteristics, and we will experience Him.
     Today, as one of the leaders Matt was waiting on God, Matt felt God speak to him. Matt felt God tell him, that we wanted to reveal Himself as a healer, on a personal level. A few minutes later Matt saw a girl on base who had sprained her ankle, and began to pray with her for healing. When he was done praying, the girl stood up, walked around and her ankle was perfect! God had healed her! How awesome is that?
     God didn't reveal himself as a Healer to Matt after only a couple of days. Matt has been persistent in pursuing God for years. Over these years, God has revealed different characteristics of Himself to Matt. Through this, Matt has gone from simply having knowledge about God, to actually knowing God! To having a personal relationship with God!! And God is so many more things than just Healer. He is a true Father, Friend, King, Comfort, He is our Hope, Joy, Peace and so much more.
     God wants to for us to have a relationship with Him. God wants us to experience His love, joy peace, healing, friendship and so much more. Will we be persistent in our pursuit of Him, so that we might truly know God on a personal level? Yes, we can have knowledge of God and accept Him as our Lord and Saviour, and one day we will be with Him. But how much more amazing it would be to have a relationship with God while still on this earth! Rather than going our own way on our own strength, would it not be so much better to be able to listen to God and follow His plan? If we follow God's plan, we don't need to go on our own strength, because God will be with us. He will use us, and we will be able to see a positive result of our actions.
    Many churches in Canada and the U.S. today are dying. The problem is, people are no longer following God's direction. They are coming up with their own plans and doing what makes sense to them. However, God wants us to rely on Him, not ourselves. God's plan doesn't always make sense to us, but in the end it is right, and it is effective. We have lost our effectiveness because we our choosing to go our own way on own strength instead of God's. The only way to know God's plan for our lives and as a church, is to dive into a relationship with Him. As we do so, we need to wait upon God, and listen for His leading. If we follow His leading, even when it doesn't make sense, God will use us, and we will once again be effective for Him. We will once again see people coming to know Christ, and giving their lives to Him. And not just one or two, but many!
     God wants to have a relationship with us, and He's got an amazing plan for our lives! Will we take the time to grow close? Will we be persistent?

ps. sorry if I was too repetitive :P

Healing!!

So, theres tons of stuff I want to post, but I only have a few minutes so I thought I'd share a cool thing that just happened. At the end of our lesson today, one of the leaders, Matt, felt God telling him that God wanted to show Himself as a Healer. As Matt walked down the steps from the lecture hall he saw one of the girls on base who had sprained her ankle and was on crutches. He asked if he could pray with her for healing, and when they were done, she stood up and walked around, and felt no pain! Her ankle was perfect! God had healed. So, I just thought I'd share that with you for a minutes, because it is pretty darn amazing!!

Travelin'

hmm. Soo. due to the encouragement of Melissa :P   I will actually post something :)  So, I stayed with David and Holly in Santa Barbara for two days on my way down. Twas swell, getting to check out a bit of California! Drove along the coast line on our way from the L.A. airport, and spent some time at a local beach--->
    I'm now down under, settled into the YWAM base in Brisbane. All the flights and such went well, (except for the one I missed due to customs in Sydney tearing everything I own apart). But, they rebooked another flight free of charge. :)    I'm sharing a dorm room with 11 other guys. They all seem to be pretty stellar guys. Tonight there is an orientation dinner, and tomorrow more orientation, and then things get rolling! Just catching up on some sleep over here, we're 14 hours ahead all you guys back home, so my the sleep pattern is pretty much wacked. Anyways, I'll post more as things start happening!!