Week 4: Glory, Worldview, and the Kingdom of God

Last week was another exciting week with lots of new information and revelations. So, be warned, this blog is longer than my previous weeks. I truly believe the information I learned last week is vital to living as a follower of Christ. I pray that you take the time to read over some of my notes and if you have questions, I am happy to attempt to expand on my understanding or I can put you in touch with the speaker.

Last week our speaker was Don Stephens (the Kingdom Don, not the Mercy Ships Don for all you YWAMers). He shared incredible insight on God's Glory, worldviews as well as the Kingdom. I am going to focus most of my blog this week on the Kingdom, because it is a totally new concept to me.

I will start with the Glory of God. This is a Christian phrase that is used constantly in conversation, prayers, songs, etc, but I have never really understood what the Glory of God is. My NIV concordance defines glory as: the grandeur and majesty of God. That definition feels like more arm waving and not a whole lot of substance.

Don summed it up as "God's glory is His invisible character made visible." citing Romans 1:20

Everything is about God's Glory! Don explained a Circle of Glory.

1. God creates man for his glory. "... those whom I have created for my glory." Isaiah 43.7
2. Man discovers God's creation to the glory of God. "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; but the glory of kings to search it out." Proverbs 25.2
3. Man imitates God through creative activity (for the glory of God.) "Make tunics, sashes, and hats for Aaron's sons to express glory and beauty." Exodus 28.40
4. Man's creative activity fills the earth with more of God's glory. "Whether you ear, or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." I Corinthians 10:31

As a visual person, the diagram helped me to understand it better.

The Glory of God is written on our hearts. That is why we enjoy the things we do: children playing, fairy tale endings, beautiful sunsets, loving relationships, etc. They all reflect the Glory of God.

Suddenly it everything matters. When I make my bed in the morning, it's aesthetic nature will reflects the Glory of God's beauty. When I help the elderly woman over the rocks into the ocean, that loving interaction of community reflects the Glory of God's relationships. WOW! Our role is to restore and reflect the Glory of God.

Now, I understand also, why I cry during the love scene in a movie, or at a beautiful orchestra concert, or am stopped in my tracks at the sight of the sun setting over the ocean. All of these things reflect God's Glory. And the most fantastic part is that when we recognize and respond to beauty, then we see more beauty. And seeing more beauty is recognizing more of God's Glory all around us! INCREDIBLE!

Here is an example of a loving relationship that entirely reflects Jesus' love for us and his constant desire to bring us back to his loving arms and relationship. This clip is taken from the movie Blood Diamond with Leonardo DiCaprio. Warning: you may need a Kleenex for the next two minutes; I definitely did.

OK - I could go on for pages more, but I want to get to the other gems from the week:

WORLDVIEWS: Why are worldviews important? Because ideas have consequences. Worldviews are formed without us even knowing it, so we are often unaware of the ideas we believe and therefore also unaware of the consequences we are heading toward.

Jesus wants us to see the world as it truly is. Don used a great visual to help us understand. As a person who grew up attending Buddhist Meditations, I received a tint of New Age Worldview to my glasses. I also am part of the Post-Modern Generation, so I have an additional tint to my glasses. All of the media, books, newspapers, church, school, family and friends that I am exposed to through my life tint my glasses too. So, what I am left with is a skewed vision of the world. Jesus want me to remove my glasses and when I refocus my eyes, I will see the world as he desires: the Kingdom worldview.

Don was great with sharing video clips to demonstrate the points we was making. They impacted me so strongly, I wanted to tell you about them too. I couldn't find this exact clip on youtube but maybe you will have better luck. Check out the scene in The Truman Show when Jim Carrey's character is on the boat and comes to the edge of his world. There is such a strong statement about our "reality" which can be said as the tinting on the glasses that we see the world through.

THE KINGDOM: During class one day, Don asked us what we believed was Jesus' main message was while He was on earth. What is the central theme to the four Gospel books in the Bible? My response - LOVE. Other responses varied from forgiveness to truth to repentance.

Then Don got out his stats and blew us all away.

These are some of the the typical responses Don hears from people when he asks them the same question. Each word is followed by the actual number of times Jesus used the word in the New American Standard version of the four Gospels.

• Born again: 2 times
• Salvation: 8 times
• Sin: 17 times
• Forgiveness: 24 times
• Truth: 28 times
• Satan/the Devil: 28 times
• Money: 29 times
• Love: 43 times
• Heaven: 71 times
• The Kingdom: 117 times - (The Father: 226 times!)

Jesus' first message preached is recorded in Matthew 4:17.

"From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."

Jesus is telling us to take off our "glasses" and smash them. Everything is changed (Jesus dying for our sins) - come see the world the way I see it!

The notes in my NIV study bible describe the Kingdom of Heaven = Kingdom of God as:

"the establishment of God's rule in the hearts and lives of his people, the overcoming of all the forces or evil, the removal from the world of all the consequences of sin - including death and all that diminished life - and the creation of a new order of righteousness and peace. The idea of God's Kingdom is central to Jesus' teaching and is mentioned 50 times in Matthew alone."

That description is still very abstract to me. Our speaker put it into words that my mind can grasp.

What is the Kingdom of God? “May thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.”

• It is every place where God’s will is being done.
• It is everything gone wrong in the fall being made right again in Christ.
• It is God’s dream for His creation.
• It is the Father, Son and Spirit extending His life into all of creation.
• It is the “perichoresis” the circle dance of the Trinity embracing the human
race.

The Ways of the Kingdom:

The purpose of the Kingdom is the glory of God.
The constitution of the Kingdom is the Word of God.
The ruling principle of the Kingdom is love.
The language of the Kingdom is story and picture.
The reach of the Kingdom includes all of the universe.

What was the “Gospel of the Kingdom” that Jesus preached?
(From Darrow Miller: Discipling the Nations.)

• The Kingdom of God is revealed in a person. Col. 1:19
• God's rule is here and now. Now, and "not yet." Matthew 6:10
• The kingdom is comprehensive, touching every area of life. Col. 1:20; Rom.
8:18-23
• The kingdom is open to all. John 3:16 Matt. 5:3-10
• The kingdom of God sanctifies the common. 1 Cor. 10:31; Zech. 14:20-21
• God's kingdom is unshakable. Heb. 11:10
• The kingdom of God is offensive. It assaults the gates of hell. Matt 16:18

A Different Kind of Fairy Tale
It is a world where terrible things happen
and wonderful things too.
It is a world where goodness is pitted against evil,
love against hate,
order against chaos in a great struggle
where often it is hard to be sure who belongs to which side
because appearances are endlessly deceptive.
Yet for all its confusion and wildness it is a world
where the battle goes ultimately to the good
who live happily ever after, and where in the long run everybody,
good and evil alike, becomes known by his true name.
This is a fairy tale of the gospel with, of course, one crucial difference
from all the other fairy tales,
which is that the claim made for it is that it is true,
that it not only happened once upon a time
but has kept on happening ever since
and is happening still.
~Frederick Beuchner

Week 3: The Reality of Walking with Jesus

Ericka and I eating frozen yogurt - literally yogurt that I

put in the freezer - DELICIOUS and reading our assigned book.
I highly recommend it if you haven't read it yet.
Is That Really You, God? by Loren Cunningham, Founder of YWAM

Last week was week three of our lectures. I cannot believe how fast time is flying by here. Dave Gibbons was our speaker for the week. He was part of the Leadership Summit 2009 Speaker Line Up, so if the name sounds familiar, that may be where you heard it.

"Dave Gibbons is the founding pastor of Newsong Church, a multi-generational, multi-ethnic, multi-continental, multi-site church in Irvine, CA, named as one of the most innovative churches in America by Outreach Magazine. Gibbons also leads the Newsong Global Alliance, a catalytic church organization with expanding, worldwide reach into Asia, Central America, and Europe. The author of The Monkey and the Fish, Gibbons is a vision-oriented leader known for his insightful thinking on the future of the church. He brings expertise on “Third Culture” leadership and the top skills and experiences every leader will need to reach our global culture with the gospel." - Excerpt from http://www.willowcreek.com/events/leadership/2009/david-gibbons.asp

We did a very interesting activity one of the days of Dave's teachings. We were asked to complete 3 assessments. First, I was to draw a time line of my life. I could draw pics and/or use words to identify key people, places and events through my life. The second task was to create a 2x2 matrix. Each quadrant would contain info from one category. The four categories were who energizes me, who de-energizes me, what energizes me, what de-energizes me. The final assessment was to draw my home when I was ten years old. I then needed to draw my family members and myself where I saw us in the home at that age.

When reviewing the assessments, we were taught to look for patterns, reasons and places to confirm the cause of why someone currently has a certain thought pattern or belief, and most importantly the fingerprints of God's hand throughout the person's life. The assessments also revealed to many people the sources of deep pain and hurt that may have previously been undefined or buried so deep they were more or less unaware of its existence.

The principles to remember when reviewing the sssessments:

1. It's more about your weakness than your strength. We can see why and how God uses certain pains. Weakness becomes a gift if we allow grace to transform us.
   
2. It's more about pain than pleasure. Although we most likely won't understand that at the time, the pain in life will become each person's connection to the world. People won't connect to one's achievements through life, they will connect to one's pain.

Though it may not look like it from the notes I have included here, this was definitely a week of realizing deep hurt, forgiveness and healing. I became aware of hurts that I never had even recognized as problems. After lots of tears and headaches from crying, now I understand that God did not want certain events and relationships to take place the way they did. This week has also taught me that God can and will use pain and hurt from my life to benefit others. God gave me a gift that no one else has - my story. My suffering is a way that I can reach and relate to the rest of the world.

A few key phrases from the week that I am praying about deeper and allowing to sink in.

• The purpose of a word is to catch an idea, once the idea is caught, the word is forgotten
• Success in God's eyes is often a failure in man's eyes
• The key task of a leader is to build trust and bear pain
• As I better understand who I am, I'll be able to better flow with the Holy Spirit
• The best leaders aren't even noticed by the people they are helping
• God is my main entree, people are my dessert
• Healing happens as we go

On Friday all the students and staff in our school declared it PINK day. So, we all searched our closets, friends' closets, Wal-Mart and raided the Boutique (the on-campus free thrift store) for Pink garments for the day. Wow! Some people got very creative! Here is a picture of our school with Dave Gibbons (center) and his friend, Mike Wang, who came with him to teach for the week.

The week was not all work and intense learning -

we did have wonderful fun too! Here are some other pics from the week:

Beautiful Sea Turtle at Kahalu'u Beach
a couple miles from campus

YAY Snorkeling time! Note to self - smiling
with a snorkel in your mouth is VERY awkward.

Ericka and I after we found out our locations for outreach
and had a celebratory dance party with the school.

Outreach Location Announced!

I believe God has been calling me to Africa for a very long time. When I was blessed with the opportunity to travel to Sierra Leone in April of 2008 for a missions trip, the calling only got louder.

In choosing to come to the Compassion DTS here in Kona, I was not sure whether I would be able to spend my three month outreach phase of the school in Africa. Much of the information prior to me coming made it sound like I would be serving in South East Asia somewhere.

I can rejoice in saying that God hears our prayers and is faithful to the desires He places in us! Last week we prayed about our outreach locations and then the leaders placed us all in teams according to our preferences from our prayers. I am going to RWANDA!






My team is an incredible group of students from my school, plus our leaders, Gabi and Margaret and their son Hero, who are from Rwanda. When I got here to Kona, I saw Margaret and knew right away that I wanted to get to know this powerful woman. The second week I was here, I was put into her small group - TOTAL BLESSING - and now I am going with her to Rwanda to serve in her homeland. GOD IS GREAT! And, to top it all off - Gabi is an artist!

Though we don't know details of what works we will be doing in Rwanda, we know that we will be working with children, poor and needy in some capacity at some point in the three months. I am sure we will get more details as we get closer to departure, but for now, I desire to focus on the lectures and the work God is doing in me now.

Ironman World Championship

Life has been crazy busy with all of the wonderful lectures, activities, praise times, etc. So, I have a bit of catching up to do.

Saturday the 10th of October was the World Championship Iron Man Triathlon here in Kona. Our school had the incredible opportunity to volunteer at this huge event. Our shift was the end of the race, which left my schedule free to watch the start of the race bright and early at 6:45am.


For those of you who are unfamiliar with the race, here is a blip from the official race website:

To get to the starting line in Kona, you must either be very lucky and get yourself a spot through the lottery, or very talented, and win yourself a qualifying spot at one of the qualifying events held around the world.

Tens-of-thousands of triathletes try to get one of those coveted Ironman spots every year. Only 1,800 succeeded.

That means 1,800 "lucky" people get to test themselves on one of the biggest challenges the sports world has to offer ... 2.4-miles of swimming, 112-miles of biking, and a 26.2-mile marathon run through tough ocean waves, and challenging lava-covered terrain.

Our volunteer shift was at the end of the race - from 7pm till Midnight. I was hoping to be assigned to "security" using the term very loosely near the finish line. I love cheering people on, so I thought that would be the best place for me. Unfortunately, I volunteered for a different "security" assignment.

I was stationed after the finish line just outside the area where the athletes came to pick up their bike, swim equipment, and other race gear. The first couple of the hours were not very fun for me. I was a human traffic light telling athletes and their families a variety of instructions.

"Keep moving. Pick up gear straight ahead. Exit the way the bike race started. Blah Blah Blah."

I was rescued at one point when another security volunteer asked me to help me one particular athlete who didn't have any family here with her. My mission was to help her get on her shuttle back to her hotel. Thinking this was a simple 5 minute task I wandered from my traffic light position with my new Ironman friend.

The woman I was helping was 21 year old Battig Rahel from the German part of Switzerland. She was here in Kona with another friend who also competed in the race. Battig finished the triathlon in 13 hours 15 minutes and 40 seconds and when I met her, she was entirely exhausted and deservedly desiring a shower and her bed.

The five minute expected walk turned into a much bigger adventure. It turned out there was not a shuttle from her hotel, so we would have to walk to the town's shuttle which was over a half a mile away. I welcomed the exercise, but my heart went out to Battig who put far too many miles on her legs that day and was now asked to keep going.

A slow walk through hordes of fans still watching athletes cross the finish line eventually brought us to the shuttle. Another road block in the plan. Shuttle policy says no bikes on the bus. Well, I thought a simple solution would be to call a taxi for my new friend. I could tell she would not think twice about paying for a ride if it meant she could be in bed sooner. Well... the taxis were all booked for the night.

The shuttle driver motioned to another athlete on his bike a few yards away and explained to me that he was riding his bike past Battig's hotel a couple miles down the road. I could ride with him and Battig could take the shuttle and we'd meet at her hotel. Inside I was jumping for joy - I could ride an Ironman's bike! However, knowing how my ultra-athlete friends can be about their equipment, I didn't want to expect Battig to allow me to ride her bike, especially because it was dark by this point and she didn't have a light. I shared that I wouldn't mind riding her bike and she was incredibly grateful that I would even consider helping her. She already felt overwhelmed that I carried her bags and walked with her to the shuttle.

So, as Battig climbed into the shuttle to finally sit and relax, I mounted the best bike I may ever ride in my life. As I was pedaling with incredible ease, I wished her hotel was 10 miles instead of only 2 miles away. My "chauffeur" and I chatted as we rode down the street.

God totally blessed me by giving me the chance to help Battig. I enjoy one-on-one interactions and small groups much more than large masses of people. It was incredible standing in as her support system even just to carry her bags and help her get back to her hotel after an incredible day of swimming, riding and running in the Hawaiian heat. WOW God. Thank You!

Bravo to all the athletes who work so hard to make it to the race whether they cross the finish line or not.

Week 2: Destiny by Design

Last week was another incredible week. Our speaker, Gwen Bergquist, taught the lectures on Destiny by Design. Each day revealed new "secrets" to me and reassured me that God really has designed me for a specific purpose. The first day, Gwen asked us to draw a picture with crayons of what our dreams for our life look like. This is my picture:


It shows me in the mid-ground painting a picture of God's love. The yellow face behind me is God with Love in his eyes. The figures in the foreground are children whom I am teaching to also create art that reflects God's love.

This dream incorporates my loves of art, children, and teaching all while keeping my eyes fixed on Jesus. This is the first time I have really put this dream down on paper. It was so freeing and exciting for me to see what my heart really longed for.

A few days later I was able to share with the class my dream and the picture I drew. They then shared some words of encouragement and impressions God gave them.

Some examples were: No fear - God is my shield, gooey paint material(this one especially excited me because I love my gooey pastels!), prophetic, life giving, expression, where I step there will be land, I will know God's love, Africa, and multiplication of believers.

All of these words came with deeper meaning and revelation of how God is going to use my dream and how it aligns with the purpose He has set for my life.

In the two weeks that I have been here, I am already feeling a deep desire to learn and feel who God is as my Papa. I want to create a piece of artwork to represent each of His characteristics that I learn. So, as I was praying on Friday God gave me a new idea. I was totally ecstatic.

I feel that the Lord wants me to create these pieces of art and compile them into a book called Portraits of Papa. I will then use this book as a tool to teach children the nature of God as our Father. Then I will teach them basics of art and give them an opportunity to create their own Portraits! This is incredible and so much greater than anything I could have planned myself!

I am so excited to get started - and to think I almost didn't bring my art supplies with me. I was feeling that my love of art was entirely separate from my love from and for God. I really did not see how they could fit together. So, last week broke that lie and revealed to me not only do they fit together, but God has designed me so I can use my art to help teach others about Him.

God gave us all a very special gift last Thursday night. As I rounded a corner around a building, my friend, Corlize, and I both looked up simultaneously and shrieked with joy at the view of a brilliant, complete, double rainbow in the sky framing some of campus. It was incredible! Unfortunately, my camera doesn't do God's masterpiece justice.


We are still all having fun also. Here is a little clip of the "Pass the Cup" game at lunch one day.



This weekend our class helped with security at the Ironman World Championship race. I will post details sometime this week. I will also let you know where I will be going for the outreach portion of this school. :)

First Week:Setting the Foundation

WOW WOW WOW!

It is amazing how quickly God is getting right to the meaningful, life changing stuff. Last week the students, staff and our leaders shared about how God brought us here is Kona, HI for the Compassion DTS. The three nights of sharing involved much more than canned answers. All 38 female students and 12 male students opened up to each other. Some told secrets they had been holding inside for years too afraid of the reactions she would receive. Others opened their souls to healing but were unsure how to awaken their hardened hearts.

Alright, let me start with a little more of the basics. When Ericka Smiley and I checked in last on the 24th, we found out that we had been roomed together. This was incredible because the housing department didn't even know that we knew each other! We live in a beautiful room that overlooks campus and the ocean! God truly blessed us and our 4 other roommates. The other girls are from South Korea and they quickly became our sisters! Here are a few pics of our roommates. You can click on the collage to see a larger version. Our roommates are Hyun Min, Yu Hyun, Eun Jung, & Ju Hyun. It took me the better part of the week to learn how to pronounce them, and I believe I've got it figured out now.

Before we had any actual class lectures, our whole school (50 students, 2 leaders, and 10 staff and their families) all loaded into vans and drove to Hapuna beach. We enjoyed an incredibly beautiful day in the sun and playing keep-away in the waves. Guys vs. Girls. Unfortunately, our numbers could not defeat the athleticism of the men. Victory was theirs.

So, as I said, last week was filled with incredible speakers, sermons, revelations and vulnerability. The intense nature and long hours of the first three days made us ready to let loose a bit on Thursday. WATER BALLOON FIGHT! Guys vs. Girls.

We also made human pyramids. The ladies made slight variation on the traditional pyramid. We were much wider that we were tall...

Dawn, one of our leaders, told the class first thing on Monday that she felt that some of us would be baptized this week. My first thoughts were: that's cool for others, but I am just coming up on my one year anniversary of my baptism. It isn't for me. However, after all of the huge changes during the week, by the time we were at the campus pool on Friday afternoon, I was praying about a baptism.

I had just learned that the Jews actually would baptize anytime a person was walking into a significant new chapter in their life. I had given up many past things that I'd been holding on to and had a new song in my heart from the Lord. So, I listened to the prompting in my heart and made a declaration of my desire to follow the Lord for the rest of my life. I give up my plans and my desires and want to follow his will for my life. Oct 2, 2009 marks a first day of my new life! CELEBRATE!!!

A few thoughts and verses that really sunk in this week include:

• All of life is simply responding to God's Love. Life becomes the revelation of God's love for us and us responding to it. Somewhere along the line I missed the lesson on God's love for me. My entire foundation was built on my love for God rather than His love for me. Now, I desire to live my life from the God's love for me rather than from my love for God. God loves me. Therefore, I love God. Therefore, I love myself and others.
  
• Zephaniah 3:17 - The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. The word rejoice originally means to spin around under violent emotion and the word sing means to scream in a shrill voice. This lecture gave me an entirely new picture of what God's love looks like.
  
• I need to rest to experience God's love. Relax into his arms

I am learning amazing things already. At this pace, I will be an entirely different person after 5 months and 3 weeks more of this transformation process. Praise God!

Prayer Requests:

• Allowing myself to rest
• Believing and Receiving God's love for me
• Getting to know God the Father. I know Him very well as the Creator, and want to learn his other characteristics.
  
• Freedom to worship Him genuinely. Something is holding me back right now.
• Safety for the class, leaders, and staff. We have had a couple of people get hurt already, so prayers in this area are much needed.
  

Thank you for your support and encouragement. Your prayers too are so much appreciated! Thank you!

I had an incredible first week! Our class is very vulnerable to each other, and i can tell God has big plans of healing for all 50 of us. Details to follow...