Monday, January 16, 2012
Week 1
To all those who are loved by God and called to be saints:
I left in a spirit of anticipation of what God had in store, and I am not disapointed. Since arriving here in England I have been surrounded by love and the spirit of God. I've never seen so many people so in love with God.
My arrival on wednesday night was met with an imeasurable sence of relief, and with relief came the fantastic task of learning a seemingly infinite amount of names. Person after person introducing themselves, and yet, it's not akin joining a group of people in which you pretend to know one another. Almost everyone here has given me their testimony, and I have responded in turn. I really feel like each of these people are a unique member of my family!
Adelphoi is the greek word for brothers and/or sisters in inheritance, and I have found many adelphoi here. Brothers and sisters in christ, saved to do good works. :)
Through the last two days of the week, the leader of our DTS has been teaching on all of the things given us through the cross. Forgiveness in place of condemnation, healing in place of brokeness, rightchousness in place of Sin, life in place of death, blessing in place of curse, abundance in place of bareness, glory in place of shame, acceptance in place of rejection,and a new man to replace the old. These lessons led up to a session in which we were given the opportunity to confess any part of our lives we considered shamefull or bringing down in any way, because as Ben put it, so many christians walk with a victorious limp, or to phrase it a bit more expanded, we live in such a way that we only accept the salvation of Christ's sacrifice and ingnore the things we know Christ can free us from.
One of my adelphoi here said that we need to not only ask God to remove evil and problems from our lives, but to also replace those issues with the equivalant good. This has been quite the week of growth.
17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:17-24 ESV
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Up, Up, and Away
To all those who are loved by God and called to be saints:
Excitement, confusion, and an overwhelming sense of purpose filled me this morning. Thanks to my newly adapted passport (containing a visa) I was completely ready to leave for England. Through a frustrating morning of hustle and bustle, I was able to complete all of the cleaning and duties inherent to leaving for an extended period of time.
Thanks to a crazy awesome group of friends, I was driven here to San Diego International to take a flight to LAX then on to Heathrow. I was extremely exited, typing this entry, saying goodbye to friends on the phone, eating my last peperachini lathered sandwich for six months. Then... "attention, flight 6283 is actually one hour and a half late, instead of boarding, we will be redirecting passengers who need to transfer to other airlines."
The frantic nature of my behavior was nearly comical, my eyes were twitching back and forth, while my hands defiantly shook. I was frightened as I had purchased my plane ticket on Expedia.com and was unsure of my status in regards to flight changes. In all the confusion I remembered the patience God had been developing in me through the process with my Visa, and I sat to pray. All I could say in my anger at the airline and sheer frustration was, "God, not my will but thy will be done." With a suddenness that only the spirit can bring, I calmed. The feeling was strange, partially assured, but mainly free. It's somewhat of an oddity, but I hadn't been praying for the ticket to go through, simply that what I did was in his will, and that is what freed me I suppose, simply to want to act in a way that is efficient, not worrying about outside forces enacting on me at a future time. I had done all I could do.
The attendant that had been sitting there through all of this called for "Passenger Savage". I sighed off great relief when she informed me there was a possibility British Airways might take my ticket. I calmly thanked her. Her surprise at my calm attitude led to a quick process and just like that, a British Airways ticket was at my disposal. From the United Desk, I traversed the confusing journey to the American Airlines/British Airways desk where I was helped by a man who was extremely amused at the comparison between my passport photo and my current appearance. And from here I write, a soon to be passenger aboard the British Arline flight to Heathrow, extremely exited, a tad bit tired, and trusting in God.
1 What then shall we say was gained by[a] Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in[b] him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” Romans 4:1-8
The frantic nature of my behavior was nearly comical, my eyes were twitching back and forth, while my hands defiantly shook. I was frightened as I had purchased my plane ticket on Expedia.com and was unsure of my status in regards to flight changes. In all the confusion I remembered the patience God had been developing in me through the process with my Visa, and I sat to pray. All I could say in my anger at the airline and sheer frustration was, "God, not my will but thy will be done." With a suddenness that only the spirit can bring, I calmed. The feeling was strange, partially assured, but mainly free. It's somewhat of an oddity, but I hadn't been praying for the ticket to go through, simply that what I did was in his will, and that is what freed me I suppose, simply to want to act in a way that is efficient, not worrying about outside forces enacting on me at a future time. I had done all I could do.
The attendant that had been sitting there through all of this called for "Passenger Savage". I sighed off great relief when she informed me there was a possibility British Airways might take my ticket. I calmly thanked her. Her surprise at my calm attitude led to a quick process and just like that, a British Airways ticket was at my disposal. From the United Desk, I traversed the confusing journey to the American Airlines/British Airways desk where I was helped by a man who was extremely amused at the comparison between my passport photo and my current appearance. And from here I write, a soon to be passenger aboard the British Arline flight to Heathrow, extremely exited, a tad bit tired, and trusting in God.
1 What then shall we say was gained by[a] Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in[b] him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” Romans 4:1-8
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Encinitas
To all those who are loved by God and called to be saints:
Saturday night, God purposed in the heart of some close friends and brothers in Christ, Cody Cantabrana and John Hamon, to go to Encinitas in order to interview people in regards to their Faith and theology (or lack there of).
With this goal in mind the two gathered the group of us who wanted to help in the living room of the Hamon residence. With boldness and excitement unique to those gifted with performing, John and Cody enthralled us with a plan to minister to Encinitas in a unique way, one in which we would be able to preach the good news differently to each individual we encountered. The goal was to send teams of two or three about the center of Encinitas to interview people in regards to their belief in God, Hell, Christ, and Eternity in hopes of finding a cross section of Encinitas's beliefs and really making connections to these individuals.
The people we encountered had a diverse sets of opinions in regards to theology/philosophy. Weather their opinion fell under the banner of Creationism or Atheism, about one third of them had thought about the issues behind ontology. The confusion displayed was sad, but brought to my attention the lack of thought put into the nature of their own existence.
Knowing this, it seems that one of the best ways to spark the want for Christ in North County is to simply ask questions! I know it probably seems simple, and perhaps obvious, but ask yourself how many times you have even asked a close friend what they believe about the nature of reality. I had such a good time talking to people and attempting to lead their thoughts toward the truth. It's also a great way to connect to those who do know what they believe, and show them that you care! It was a great to share Christ in this manner. :)
In regards to the Visa, I received conformation that UPS is collecting my completed visa and Passport today and should have it to me tomorrow. When I receive it I plan on purchasing a ticket to London through Airfare.com. So what that all means is I am leaving either tomorrow or the next day for sure. It's such a relief to be receiving the material to enter England. Thank you all for the prayer and support. :)
23 Sing to the LORD, all the earth!
Tell of his salvation from day to day.
24 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
25 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,
and he is to be feared above all gods.
26 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
but the LORD made the heavens.
27 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and joy are in his place. 1 Chronicles 16:23-27
Saturday night, God purposed in the heart of some close friends and brothers in Christ, Cody Cantabrana and John Hamon, to go to Encinitas in order to interview people in regards to their Faith and theology (or lack there of).
With this goal in mind the two gathered the group of us who wanted to help in the living room of the Hamon residence. With boldness and excitement unique to those gifted with performing, John and Cody enthralled us with a plan to minister to Encinitas in a unique way, one in which we would be able to preach the good news differently to each individual we encountered. The goal was to send teams of two or three about the center of Encinitas to interview people in regards to their belief in God, Hell, Christ, and Eternity in hopes of finding a cross section of Encinitas's beliefs and really making connections to these individuals.
The people we encountered had a diverse sets of opinions in regards to theology/philosophy. Weather their opinion fell under the banner of Creationism or Atheism, about one third of them had thought about the issues behind ontology. The confusion displayed was sad, but brought to my attention the lack of thought put into the nature of their own existence.
Knowing this, it seems that one of the best ways to spark the want for Christ in North County is to simply ask questions! I know it probably seems simple, and perhaps obvious, but ask yourself how many times you have even asked a close friend what they believe about the nature of reality. I had such a good time talking to people and attempting to lead their thoughts toward the truth. It's also a great way to connect to those who do know what they believe, and show them that you care! It was a great to share Christ in this manner. :)
In regards to the Visa, I received conformation that UPS is collecting my completed visa and Passport today and should have it to me tomorrow. When I receive it I plan on purchasing a ticket to London through Airfare.com. So what that all means is I am leaving either tomorrow or the next day for sure. It's such a relief to be receiving the material to enter England. Thank you all for the prayer and support. :)
23 Sing to the LORD, all the earth!
Tell of his salvation from day to day.
24 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
25 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,
and he is to be feared above all gods.
26 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
but the LORD made the heavens.
27 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and joy are in his place. 1 Chronicles 16:23-27
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Almost Gone
To all those who are loved by God and called to be saints:
Still waiting on the visa, but God is slowly but surely teaching me patience. I was able to attend the men's bible study this morning with Pat Chiles, and it was great. We are in John 2 (water to wine) and I really comprehended the sovereignty of Christ. Whatever has been happening at the British goverment, it doesn't really matter, God has used it to teach me patience.
In the tasks of today: My bible study group will be serving in Encinitas tonight. Please keep us in your prayers as we will be spreading the word and desperately need the spirit to be allowed to act. I will post tomorrow as to how it goes, but I really wanted to post about the mission. I am not quite sure what we will be doing, but pray for calm hearts, I'm a bit nervous how what we will be doing will be received.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Philippians 4:23
In the tasks of today: My bible study group will be serving in Encinitas tonight. Please keep us in your prayers as we will be spreading the word and desperately need the spirit to be allowed to act. I will post tomorrow as to how it goes, but I really wanted to post about the mission. I am not quite sure what we will be doing, but pray for calm hearts, I'm a bit nervous how what we will be doing will be received.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Philippians 4:23
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Visa
To all those who are loved by God and called to be saints:
First of all thank you all so much for the contributions to my upcoming mission. This trip is only possible thanks to the donations from all of you, thank you for listening to God's provocations and for being so generous. I have so much of the journey paid for. The video might have to wait till I am in England, but I still plan on creating a video interview in regards to this upcoming mission.
I've been through the process of getting my visa recently, and it has been a rough couple of days. God has provided unbelievable condolences through friends and family, but there has been quite a bit of stress. The British Consulate sent back all of my paperwork on Tuesday. Unfortunately, I mistakenly left out my passport in the mailing process, so I had to return all of the paperwork in an overnight shipping package via Fed Ex. I received an email today from the consulate that said it would take about five days to send my information between the UK and the consulate, and what that means for me is that I have to miss the orientation on Friday at the King's Lodge. It is great dealing with my YWAM base though as they are completely fine with the complications, yet it is stressful waiting. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for me. Without the fellowship of the believers and the hand of God I would go insane.
In regards to the trip, I am completely packed and extremely exited. The time in fellowship and missions I am about to embark upon has me to the point of hysterics. I am going to miss all of you, but this is going to be my first time really leaving home for any amount of time. I haven't Lived anywhere but North County all my life and this is by far the longest mission trip I have done. Please keep me in your prayers as I embark on this journey. Specifically that I can recognize tribulations as tests of strength and refining fire, especially the current cross of stress.
10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, Hebrews 12:10-12
First of all thank you all so much for the contributions to my upcoming mission. This trip is only possible thanks to the donations from all of you, thank you for listening to God's provocations and for being so generous. I have so much of the journey paid for. The video might have to wait till I am in England, but I still plan on creating a video interview in regards to this upcoming mission.
I've been through the process of getting my visa recently, and it has been a rough couple of days. God has provided unbelievable condolences through friends and family, but there has been quite a bit of stress. The British Consulate sent back all of my paperwork on Tuesday. Unfortunately, I mistakenly left out my passport in the mailing process, so I had to return all of the paperwork in an overnight shipping package via Fed Ex. I received an email today from the consulate that said it would take about five days to send my information between the UK and the consulate, and what that means for me is that I have to miss the orientation on Friday at the King's Lodge. It is great dealing with my YWAM base though as they are completely fine with the complications, yet it is stressful waiting. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for me. Without the fellowship of the believers and the hand of God I would go insane.
In regards to the trip, I am completely packed and extremely exited. The time in fellowship and missions I am about to embark upon has me to the point of hysterics. I am going to miss all of you, but this is going to be my first time really leaving home for any amount of time. I haven't Lived anywhere but North County all my life and this is by far the longest mission trip I have done. Please keep me in your prayers as I embark on this journey. Specifically that I can recognize tribulations as tests of strength and refining fire, especially the current cross of stress.
10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, Hebrews 12:10-12
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