brief update

Im back. Never thought I would post twice in two days did ya? :) Well I am just full of surprises. 

So, I wanted to write a brief update and also let you know that I have a new addition to my blog page. 

We are at the beginning of our technical last week of lecture for our DTS. Originally we had planned to be leaving next weekend for outreach, but, our German visas have not yet come in and we are un able to leave the country without them. As you can imagine that would make things such a mess. So, our departure has been pushed back a week. Instead of leaving the 4th/5th we are now leaving sometime between the 10th & 12th of Dec. In some ways it is a blessing because we get an extra week here to just chill and process everything that has been going on. But on the other hand it means we lose a week of outreach. Which is a major bummer. 

I personally am not sure what to think of an extra week. I know God has big things in-store, but it is hard to see when I am not seeing how the finances are going to workout for outreach. My brain (ie. my flesh) is still trying to figure out how it will work. I know God's ways are not my ways. It is difficult to walk out some times. 

Yeah, so that kind of brings me to my blog addition. I added a paypal donate button. If you feel God impress upon you to donate to help, feel free to use PayPal. 

I have learned so much while I've been here. It is remarkable. We were assigned to prepare sermons last week based off one of the parables in Matthew 13 and the Kingdom of God. I've been looking in to what the Kingdom of God is and yeah. It has been crazy. Each of the parables are such great pictures of different aspects of the Kingdom of God. But the one that has stuck out to me was the parable of the Pearl. The merchant came across a valuable pearl and when he did he sold everything to buy the pearl. Why not? I mean the Kingdom of God is so much better then anything else. It is priceless and it doesn't make sense to hold on to fake pearls and cheap jewelry when you can have the real thing. You can have the Kingdom of God. The kingdom that changes everything. In 1 Corinthians 4:20 it says that "the Kingdom of God is not of talk but of power." Yeah, when we are about the Kingdom of God it isn't some soft spoken feel good fuzzys in your stomach but it is seeing people healed, demons being cast out, and food multiplying. 

In Luke 17:21 is says "the kingdom of God is within you." We carry the kingdom wherever we go and that WE can be atmosphere changers. WE can be the ones to see miracles. WE can bring the power of God to dark places. 

Yeah, so God has been challenging me with this idea. What if I fully grasped my identity in the Kingdom of God? What if I truly believed and understood what this meant, to have the Kingdom of God within me? 

I mean think with me for a moment. What if the Church today fully grasped their identity in the Kingdom of God? - Would they let go of their programs and their time schedules to whole heartedly seek after Who Jesus was? 

So, my question to you and myself. Would I/you sell everything and buy the pearl? Do I/you even recognize when I/you have that pearl in my/your hand?