coughs and card-making

Well. It would appear I'm somewhat do for an update. Today is a short-and-to-the-point update sort of a day. I am still here in Oxford and God is here too. The last few weeks have involved bonding as staff, learning more about YWAM, praying for students, and eating delicious food. My official job roles (i say official because I believe in teamwork-which means you have specific jobs but should also help out other brothers and sisters as needed) are leading school intercession and helping out with worship. Simply put, I am stoked.

Prayer requests on the brain today:
-our incoming students, for safe travels and calmness in the last minute preparations
-healing, as sickness has been making it's way around here lately. And praise that Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals is on the move
-pray for my friend and sister in Christ, Lara, who went in for surgery today

Blessings and peace to all.

sleepless and pensive in Oxford...

So, I made it to Oxford. Flew here today-actually, make that yesterday. It is actually too early Sunday morning-I thought I should be sleeping, God thought I could use a middle-of-the-night worship session. Fast-as, bumpy-as flight-gotta love crazy wind action. I have reunited with many whenau and have many conversations waiting to be had, stories to be exchanged. God is already moving like crazy. A fresh hunger for the Word is in the air-how it fattens my Spirit and flows like liquid honey thru me.

On another note, India's been on the mind. So many memories of cramming 6 people into 1 rickshaw, dodging cows on the street, and waking up at 5am to the calls of "chai, chai, chai coffee...". But that is not what continues to grab at me. When asked to describe India I keep it simple-"chaos." That's physically and spiritually. The faces of India are so impressed in my memory, it's like it was yesterday. The crippled beggar, the shopkeepers, the scruffy but beautiful children on the street-these are God's people. The lack of light in their eyes, the hunger for real satisfaction. And revival is coming, I can feel it-for not even the highest heavens can contain the King Himself. I can't wait. 

wisdom

Reading through the book of Proverbs today, I enjoyed this chapter so much I thought I'd share it...

Proverbs 2

Wisdom's Worth

    ¹ My son, if you accept my words
    and store up my commands within you,
    ² listening closely to wisdom
    and directing your heart to understanding;
    ³ furthermore, if you call out to insight
    and lift your voice to understanding,
    ⁴ if you seek it like silver
    and search for it like hidden treasure,
    ⁵ then you will understand the fear of the LORD
    and discover the knowledge of God.
    ⁶ For the LORD gives wisdom;
    from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
    ⁷ He stores up success for the uprigh^{t
    8} so that He may guard the paths of justice
    and protect the way of His loyal followers. 
    ⁹ Then you will understand righteousness, justice,
    and integrity—every good path.
    ¹⁰ For wisdom will enter your mind,
    and knowledge will delight your heart.
    ¹¹ Discretion will watch over you,
    and understanding will guard you, 
    ¹² rescuing you from the way of evil—
    from the one who says perverse things,
    ¹³ [from] those who abandon the right paths
    to walk in ways of darkness,
    ¹⁴ [from] those who enjoy doing evil
    and celebrate perversity,
    ¹⁵ whose paths are crooked,
    and whose ways are devious
    ¹⁶ It will rescue you from a forbidden woman,
    from a stranger  with her flattering talk,
    ¹⁷ who abandons the companion of her youth 
    and forgets the covenant of her God;
    ¹⁸ for her house sinks down to death
    and her ways to the land of the departed spirits.
    ¹⁹ None return who go to her;
    none reach the paths of life.
    ²⁰ So follow the way of good people,
    and keep to the paths of the righteous.
    ²¹ For the upright will inhabit the land,
    and those of integrity will remain in it; 
    ²² but the wicked will be cut off from the land
    and the treacherous uprooted from it.  


<sup>The Spirit's still moving here.

In 6 days I will head up to Oxford for staff training. Whilst I will miss Queenstown, I am amped-as to be reunited with my Oxford whenau.

May the Lord give "it" to you, whatever your need-provision, healing, peace, strength, etc. Blessings to all.</sup> 

The Mountain Climber

THE MOUNTAIN CLIMBER

They tell the story of a mountain climber, who desperate to conquer the Aconcagua, initiated his climb after years of preparation. But he wanted the glory to himself, therefore, he went up alone. He started climbing and it was becoming later, and later. He did not prepare for camping but decided to keep on going. Soon it got dark...

Night fell with heaviness at a very high altitude. Visibility was zero. Everything was black. There was no moon, and the stars were covered by clouds. As he was climbing a ridge at about 100 meters from the top, he slipped and fell. Falling rapidly he could only see blotches of darkness that passed. He felt a terrible sensation of being sucked in by gravity.

He kept falling....and in those anguishing moments good and bad memories passed through his mind. He thought certainly he would die. But then he felt a jolt that almost tore him in half. Yes!! Like any good mountain climber he had staked himself with a long rope tied to his waist.

In those moments of stillness, suspended in the air he had no other choice but to shout, "HELP ME GOD", "HELP ME!"

All of a sudden he heard a deep voice from heaven..."What do you want meto do?"

"SAVE ME"

"Do you REALLY think that I can save you?"

"OF COURSE, MY GOD"

"Then cut the rope that is holding you up."

There was another moment of silence and stillness. The man just held tighter to the rope.

The rescue team says that the next day they found, a frozen mountain climber hanging strongly to a rope... TWO FEET OFF THE GROUND.

How about you? How trusting are you in that rope?


Why don't you let it go? I tell you, God has great and marvelous thing for you.
CUT THE ROPE AND SIMPLY TRUST IN HIM...

-- Author Unknown

Three Bullets

There once was a man who had nothing for his family to eat. He had an old rifle and three bullets. So, he decided that he would go out hunting and kill some wild game for dinner.

As he went down the road, he saw a rabbit. He shot at the rabbit and missed it. The rabbit ran away.

Then he saw a squirrel and fired a shot at the squirrel and missed it. The squirrel disappeared into a hole in a cottonwood tree.

As he went further, he saw a large wild turkey up in a tree, but he had only one bullet remaining. A voice spoke to him and said, "Pray first, aim high and stay focused." However, at the same time, he saw a deer which would provide more meat than the turkey. He brought the gun down and aimed at the deer. But, then he saw a rattlesnake between his legs about to bite him, so he naturally brought the gun down further to shoot the rattlesnake. Still, the voice again said to him, "Pray first, aim high and stay focused."

So, the man decided to listen to God's voice. He prayed, then aimed the gun high up in the tree, and shot the wild turkey. The bullet went into the turkey, deflected off a bone and hit the deer, killing it. When the gun fired, it knocked the man off balance, he stepped on the rattlesnake's head which killed it and fell backwards into a pond. When he stood up to look around, he had fish in all his pockets, a deer and a turkey with which to feed his family. The snake was dead simply because the man listened to God.

Moral of the story:
Keep God first and everything else will follow.

Pray first before you do anything. Aim high in your goals, and stay focused on God. Never let people or things discourage you concerning your past. Do not look to man for your blessings, but look only to God.

-- Author Unknown

The Gift

THE GIFT

A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.

As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him.

He handed his son a beautifully wrapped gift box. Curious, but somewhat disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible, with the young man's name embossed in gold.

Angry, he raised his voice to his father and said, "With all your money you give me a Bible?" and stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible. Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was very old, and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him since that graduation day.

Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things. When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search through his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. His father had carefully underlined a verse, Matt. 7:11, "And if ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father which is in Heaven, give to those who ask Him?" As he read those words, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words PAID IN FULL.

How many times do we miss God's blessings because they are not packaged as we expected?

-- Author Unknown

words of wisdom...

"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare composed poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper, who did his job well."  -Martin Luther King

And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. -Colossians 3:17