overload.

the past few weeks have been a blur of wonder, discovery, elation, fear and trembling, joy, growth, laughter, exaltation and revelation. 

after returning from faith week, we tumbled right into "Holy Spirit week," which brought to light so many issues i wrestle with. it was the first time anyone had openly and honestly taken time to examine the third person of the Trinity with me. i came to realize that i reject a mystical God, because that kind of God doesn't fit into my tiny realm of experience. i had to lay down a lot of myself and simply strive to rediscover who the Lord is. i am blessed to have friends here who were willing to walk with me and encourage me to look to God's face, and nowhere else. it became a time of softening. i felt God calling me into his presence, and for the first time i truly yearned to meet him there.

that weekend we went into christchurch, and stayed until saturday for the invisible children RESCUE that was taking place there and simultaneously around the world! 

about one thousand people squatted in the town square. we gathered to raise awareness, support, and to pray for the abducted and abused children of africa who are forced into war. a group of us from ywam camped out as well...right under a super-powered, painfully bright street lamp that burned the entire night. i suppose we can now better empathize with the kids in uganda who pile into bus stations for safety every evening. it sucked.

this adventurous, sleep-deficient weekend led right into one of the most intense, enlightening, and hilariously awesome weeks of teaching i have ever experienced. mark parker in the HOUSE. mark is a kiwi guy of 50 who loves the Lord, lives by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and has more passion than any teacher i've ever had the pleasure of learning under. he rocked our world, (rather, God rocked us through him) and i'm pretty sure none of us will ever forget the things revealed to us last week. 

there was waaaayyy to much communicated for me to summarize it all, but one of the most poignant illustrations made was that of justification vs. kingdom living. mark is passionate about moving christians from simply being saved into the life that God offers us as a result of Christ's sacrifice. being redeemed and heaven-bound is NOT the end-all. there is so much more! Jesus wants us to start experiencing the kingdom now. right here. on earth. in order to move from the cross to the kingdom, we must allow the Spirit to fill our entire self. body, soul and spirit. this will undoubtedly transform the way we function in this life. no longer will we be able to live in the past, or only looking to the future, but we will have joy for today. we will long to bless our neighbors in the same radical way we have been blessed. God didn't save us to become "Christians," but so that we might finally become fully HUMAN, and start living the way we were intended to from the beginning of creation! i could go on and on, but i won't. if you want more, do a ywam dts. seriously.

oh, one more glimpse into glory: we spent all day friday in worship...i mean ALL day. 9 hours. that probably sounds superfluous and possibly boring to some of you. but it wasn't. it was the most crushing, liberating, overwhelming, exhausting, and beautiful time i have ever spent in a church. we approached the day as an ancient jew would have approached the tabernacle. we started with thanksgiving and praise. moved onto the fellowship offering, laying our idols before the cross. then on to the sin offering. (confessing sins in front the Most High God? no big . doing that in front of 50 of your friends? not easy.) worship and anointing brought us fully into the gracious presence of our Father, and then we WORSHIPPED the way we were meant to. after that day-long preparation, we entered into the inner sanctuary by celebrating communion. in other words, a banquet laid out on the floor of the church. so awesome.

anyways, i'm late for outreach prep, which constitutes another whole blog post. i love you all, and miss you like crazy. i hope this long, over-due entry has brought you back into my world. i try. but we're so busy here i average about 5 hours of sleep a night. insanity. 

signing out from the ends of the earth...

-jacs