Exposed

Usually when I write, I let it come from my heart and my mind. This update, I'd like to attempt to describe the curriculum that is changing my heart and my mind. It's a bit of all over the place, because that is where I am right now. Each day.. each HOUR is filled with a million and one lessons to learn from, to absorb, and I'm having a hard time putting it all into sentence format.


God has really drawn together a unique group to make up DTS360. There are 23 students, 8 women and 15 men, ranging in age from 17-32, from Brazil, Canada, France, Russia, Sweden, and USA. Along with the staff nationalities we represent 10 nations. I feel so blessed each and every day as I am greeted by my brothers and sisters in Christ. After much deliberation and prayer, the two outreach teams have been decided. I will be joining the mission to Mexico and Chile, leaving the first week of April. We will be partnering with an organization called Homes of Hope and ministering to people in a practical way to share the good news of Jesus Christ. All the students had been anticipating the final decisions for so long! We were thrilled to see who would be placed together, but have agreed the only situation better than what we've got would have been if all 23 of us could hit all four countries together. Unless the proverb of showing kindness to your enemy to heap burning coals over top his head applies to the devil.... We're seriously ready to karate chop Satan in the face.

Phil Leage is a firecracker of a man of God who comes to our classroom once each week to go over the "Keys for Dynamic Bible Study." He's shared with us the top three approaches to reading and studying our Bibles. The Devotional Approach is good for personal growth, and tends to be a day to day assignment. There is a Deductive Approach, a sort of preconceived scripture application. There are times I've gone to the Word with a thesis, it's common to draw conclusions before reading in context. Here at YWAM, we are being trained to touch the nations, and are studying under the Inductive Approach.

Notes I have on this include:

Let scripture speak for itself, What is the author actually saying? ..to whom is the author speaking?
How can we understand it then, now, and forever?
It's not about how you use the Bible, it's what the Bible has to say.
There is no short cut in Bible study. You can't sleep with it under your head and know it, over your heart and wake up living it.. The only way is reading it verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book, and praying for understanding.
This means we use structured steps as we read to come closer to the Author of Life.
Pray, Read correctly, Observe (who, what, where, why, when, how), Interpret, and Apply.

There is a 24/7 prayer room on campus, and it has been a great place of refuge for me. It's doors are open when God wakes you up at night with a person or situation to pray for but you know you'll fall asleep praying if you stay in your bed. During a fast, I can't quite handle sitting in the dining area watching my friends eat... gotta love the prayer room. It's pretty common to have live worship, but there are time frames where a soothing playlist is on the speakers and all is calm.

Friend and DTS Staff Cory Passehl has often said to us, God created 24 hours in a day, and sometimes you need all of them. This phrase rings through my head and I'm almost haunted by it. There are so many things I'm learning and areas I so desire growth in, I need to remember I'm taking baby steps backwards to that childlike faith I was so blessed with as a little girl. I never seem to have enough time for all the scripture passages and faith based books, sharing the gospel with people downtown, volleyball and exercising, making new friends and making sure I call 'home'.. Not to mention then finding the time to journal and in turn, update this new little blog of mine.

I'm loving the place the Lord has called me to be. This statement is not entirely related to my physical location, but Hawaii is indeed beautiful. I'm emotionally raw. Jesus is healing and restoring wounds even I had forgotten about. I'm spiritually renewed each day.
"Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall. My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; the are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."
[Lamentations 3:19-23]

At times I feel as though God has lead me out into the wilderness, and it's intimidating, but it means I'm at a point where I am learning to trust Him and not lean on my own understanding. [Proverbs 3:5-6] It was a leap of faith to come here with my pockets turned inside out and place my faith in someone I can't physically see, touch, or hear. I just need to remember that anytime God lead someone into the wilderness He was preparing them for something great. Moses gave up his rights as a Prince to follow God's will. Noah was blistered for his faith, and he had to go into the wilderness numerous times to get all those animals. God gave up His SON, and then Jesus gave up His LIFE. He gave up His rights as the King of Kings, Prince of Peace, Lord of Lords, the rights even to kingship on earth... he was born in a barn. This is some of what YWAM founder Loren Cunningham shared with us this week.

Our campus was lucky enough to have Grandpa Loren and wife Darlene as speakers for the entire week! There are three DTS schools here this quarter, near 175 students in total. Each morning session last week, all three schools met in the Ohana Court and had hours of sitting under their guidance and wisdom, hearing amazing stories of what they've seen the Father do in their lifetimes, and vision for what He plans to do throughout all of ours! Love, Faith, Character of God, Giving up rights, and What to do when you don't know what to do were the main topics for the week. I learned I need to submit it all to the cross, including freedom- when God chooses, He chooses the best. If I could open my eyes to more than my selfish desires, I would see a bigger picture. The Lord loves creativity, but any plans I could create, He could blow out of the water. The love language of the Father is obedience. I remember asking my dad when I was growing up, "What do you want for Christmas? What do you want for your birthday? What do you want for Father's day?" For each circumstance, he would reply, "Obedient kids." Unfortunately, I took the easy route in buying a Fleet Farm gift certificate.

Obedience says I trust you. It ways, whatever you ask of me I'll do because I know you're looking out for my best. Abba doesn't want dutiful direction followers, but instead children willing to obey out of a love for Him and His commandments. It doesn't count if you're a robot going through the motions.
When you obey, you will learn joy. We have a generation who is dying for daddies.The world I lived in for a long time replaced joy with entertainment. It was so worthless, empty, unsatisfying. I lived a stale, dull, complacent "Christian" life. My prayer now is for God to transform me into the woman of God I was intended to be; I am not of this world. I am a princess and my Father runs the universe. The wilderness defeated the Israelites but empowered Jesus. Jesus learned obedience by the things He suffered. Overall, I'm learning that the Bible is practical. It gives us principles for righteousness. This practical God we serve has given us everything, down to coping with difficult situations, right in His Word.

Kailua-Kona's YWAM base is changing lives and enabling those to get out and change more. At the beginning, it sure sounded like YWAMers were in a wilderness all their own.Darlene told a story of the miracles God lined up to buy this property in Kona alone. Once they did get the property, she jokingly stated, "It was overrun with weeds, and YWAM meant Youth With A Machete." Overrun is no longer the word for the weeds and this spiritual soldier is now armed with a rake and garden spade versus a machete. My outdoor work duty of grounds/gardener is going fantastic and I am finding new ways each day to adore God's creations around me.

I'm trying to get better at doing more than one update a week, but for now I hope you don't mind the random pages of my journals splattered over your web browser.
Blessings to you.
Love from K-Maxx

Nothing but the Blood

[MANiFEST]
Synonyms: confirm, declare, illustrate, make known, proclaim, reveal, voice
Antonyms: bury, conceal, cover, obscure, withhold

Something is missing. There has got to be more. Yes, Kelsey, there is more.
The breeze is blowing through the slanted windows of my classroom and Faith Dutton is passionately delivering a message to the DTS 360Degrees students. It is Tuesday morning of week two at Kailua-Kona's University of the Nations.

"Here is the word of the Lord for you. . . 'GO!' (now you go and ask God the details)." Faith's piercing blue eyes and down under accent have me attentive... but at the firm, 'GO!', I sit up a little straighter. The shiver up my spine makes me widen my eyes and, once again, the strange burning sensation is back at it deep inside my chest. Faith continues, "Look to the end of Matthew, what did Jesus say to His disciples? Matthew 28 ends with 'The Great Commission,' not 'A Pretty Good Suggestion.'"

For just a moment, imagine beginning your week gathering together with Christian believers for praise and worship. In hindsight, it's the situations where I've been convinced I have everything under control when I am blindsighted with opportunities for lessons in humility. Monday morning this week I was overwhelmed with emotion as the worship leader, Jonathan, transitioned between songs and gave us a touching illustration. He began, saying, "I used to wonder why people raised their hands in the middle of church." Swaying to the rhythm of the guitar, I visualized myself years ago, in my parents' Mount Bethel church, thinking the same thing. Jonathan continued, mentioning the homecoming he had after a longer trip away from home. His son came bounding out of the house with outstretched arms, "Daddy! Pick me up! OH, Daddy, I love you! Pick me up!" The image makes my eyes glisten- until we begin to sing- 'Oh, Lord, You're beautiful. Your face is all I seek. And when Your eyes are on this child, Your grace abounds to me.' Abba. Hold me. You know where I hurt, Father. Fix me. Sometimes we lift our arms to heaven, asking God to hold us. Other times, we hold our faces and fall to our knees. The Father heart of the Holy Trinity has begun a miraculous ministry of healing and restoration to this broken daughter, revealing promises of a glorious inheritance.

It's easy and, I'm learning, dangerous, to attempt to shove GOD in a box of things thrown into a storage unit. God is not a thing, a word you speak empty words to. I cannot define God. I cannot categorize God. God is in all and is all, and Hallelujah, He is never contradictory. At some point along my lifelong journey, I let my Bible get dusty. When I neglected to remember to keep my personal time with God a priority, I neglected to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. I became complacent. On Tuesday morning, Faith challenged our class, making it clear that this is no pep talk. This is a reality that I once backslid into ignoring. There is good and there is evil. For a very long time, I have lived a compromising life, making decisions without taking the time to weigh the consequences.

This was a long week, focusing on the draining topic 'Sin and Repentance.' God is not interested in my leftovers! He asked me to take up my cross and follow Jesus; every moment I choose to live in a way that is not pleasing to Him, not only do I waste time but I break His heart. Psalm 147:3 reads, He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds. Thursday morning during my personal time with God, I visualized walls within my soul. My unrighteous, immoral behavior and my doubt in the Lord was represented in the walls, built brick by sinful brick. For a very long time, I spray painted my brick wall with rainbows and hearts, stars and flowers, convincing myself that neither God nor man could see past my graffitied happiness. Gradually and without warning, my sin had chained me to the inner wall of what had become an isolated, dark tower. Alone and enslaved, I was made aware that I had never succeeded in hiding myself from the Lord, who is and was always waiting on the opportunity to redeem. This was a nightmare, and I pleaded with God but, Lord, I'm on the right track! I'm desperate for you. My YWAM leaders speak of their relationships with you so confidently, describing what you reveal to them when they 'meet' with you. What does that even mean? When will I be free to walk with you? I want so badly to hear your voice. I'm trying so hard... My sins were glued together with a cement of selfpity, pride, contempt, hipocrisy, and anger. "Trying so hard" is using the hand that isn't bound to the devil's throne to dig brick by sinful brick out of the cement of selfish ambition. Painfully scraping away and getting no where, my walls had not hidden me from the Father, but instead blinded me from revelation of who the Father meant me to be. We will try and fail. The blood of the Lamb is the only way to find life and the blood will never lose it's power.


We're headed towards judgement like a bullet out of the end of a gun barrel. We fall into a trap in thinking God cannot forgive some of the sins we have committed. You cannot over-exagerate the love the Uncreated One has for you. Faith told us on Tuesday, "When we pray, God goes to WAR for us, and He will FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT for your life." Yesterday, Friday morning, the girls and boys split into seperate groups and, in the name of Jesus Christ, we broke the chains we enslaved ourselves to throughout the years. 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." Praise the Lord, I am a new creation and the ways in which I once walked do not define me. Jesus is worthy of the reward of His suffering and I now walk in the power of the cross.

Thank you for your time.
Thank you for being a prayer warrior on my behalf.
Thank you for your affection, your grace, and your understanding.
Thank you for loving me.

God is good, all the time.
All the time, God is good.

What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the Blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again? Nothing but the Blood of Jesus.
Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow.
No other fount, I know, nothing but the Blood of Jesus.

ALOHA YWAM!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FObjd5wrgZ8
Revelation Song - Kari Jobe


This is YWAM
[WORSHiP] : we are called to praise and worship God alone

[HOLiNESS] : we are called to lead holy and righteous lives that exemplify the nature and character of God

[WiTNESS] : we are called to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with those who do not know Him

[PRAYER]: we are called to engage in intercessory prayer for the people and causes on God`s heart, including standing against evil in every form

[FELLOWSHiP] : we are called to commit to the church in both its local nurturing expression and its mobile multiplying expression


The Discipleship Training School (DTS) is an intensive Christian training course beginning with a 12 week lecture/teaching phase, followed by a practical field assignment of at least eight weeks.


I`m at a point where I cannot yet describe in words all the ways the Lord is revealing Himself to me, so I will give you a broad idea of the environment I am in for now.


Mission Statement
In response to Jesus` commands (Matthew 22:37-38, 28:18-20) and the desperate need for biblical transformation of peoples and nations, the University of Nations Kona is called to equip servant leaders in the seven spheres of society.

The Seven Spheres of Society
1.Family 2.Religion 3.Education 4.Government
5.Arts&Entertainment 6.Media 7.Business/Science&Technology

Vision Statement
To send out thousands of men and women whose reference point is the nature and character of God, who value God`s love for all peoples, who have vision and passion for discipling nations, who are equipped with essential skills, and who demonstrate His ways in service throughout all spheres of society.

I arrived late on Sunday night and met my six wonderful roommates.
Grace - California
Kayla - Oregon
Camilla - Norway
Stephanie - Oregon
Samila (Sammi) - Brazil
Stacy - Korea

What an amazing week it has been so far! Breakfast is served each morning from 6:15 to 7:15. Monday mornings, the entire campus meets together in the Ohana Court, Ohana being `Family` in Hawaiian, for an hour of worship and praise. There are three DTS programs which all vary in focuses, as well as other internships and schools people have come to be a part of. My class met from 9 to 12 that morning and I was FINALLY able to meet my new brothers and sisters. I have been praying before meeting them that God would build all of us up so we can strongly encourage one another these next few months. Lunch is served from 12 to 1 daily, and Monday afternoon was a day of registration and exploration of the beautiful campus. Dinner is each evening from 5 to 6 and most evenings there is another class/seminar. Today felt as though things are becoming routine, and it was also the first day students served in our work duties. For two hours every afternoon, we serve in small groups assigned to tasks that vary from kitchen projects to web design to office work. I serve on a team with five other girls- Emma, Cho, Lia (all from Korea), Maria from Norway, and April (USA). We meet at the preschool and begin first by holding hands and lifting our hearts to God Almighty. Today our prayers included thanks to God for the opportunity of service, that we may encourage eachother, that we may find the two hours before us a great time to spend talking with our Father in Heaven, and that we keep cheerful hearts as we work. April is an assistant to Anna, the preschool director, while our four friends clean different classrooms and offices. I was so glad to volunteer to be grounds keeper when no one else was interested! God has really provided a way for me to get my hands dirty and really find joy in it. I pull weeds, rake mango leaves, and empty the trash. I found myself almost crying in one moment, praying for the children who would be running around all over again tomorrow. More than half the school is made of children from the community and a lot are unaware that God loves them.
We have the evening off from night seminar tonight and Grace and I have come back to our room after a great few games of volleyball. Many of the locals come to the base to play and I hope to make some friends in the weeks and months to come.


I am learning to see God in everything around me and thank everyone who has been praying on my behalf.
Father God,
Invade us with the knowledge of you! Bring unity to my DTS team, strengthen the bonds we are beginning to make. All Consuming Fire, you`re my hearts desire. Living Flame of Love, come baptize us. We want to know how high, how deep, how wide is Love, Love, Love. Teach us to abide in you and wait on your voice, God! Prune us Lord, bringing transformation to the areas in our lives that are not bringing fruits to your altar. Empty me out and fill me up with your Spirit. Thank you because you`re faithful. Thank you that you are a mystery. Thank you that you provide. Thank you that you love us. You are so beautiful. I love you.

2011 YWAM Support Letter

Dear Loved Ones,

Greetings! I pray that this letter finds you and your family well. I know I don’t write all too often, so I hope this does not come off as though I’m asking, “How about them Yanks/Twins?” Truth be told, I don’t follow baseball. I follow Jesus. As many of you know, I have been quite the gypsy since May of 2009, adventuring to South East Asia with big sister Raina and volunteering in Kathmandu, Nepal. Upon my return to the USA in August 2009, I began a journey of working and traveling through many of the 50 states. The Lord has been so faithful! He is doing marvelous and miraculous things and I know that as I abide in Him, He will finish the good work He has started in me. The Uncreated One has had His hand of protection and provision on me throughout my life, but has been revealing Himself extensively these past few months. I have been intently praying over Matthew 5, 6, and 7; Luke 9:23-27; and James 4. I have recently surrounded myself with my family in Moorhead, Minnesota, meditating over His word and growing in my faith. God has given me the opportunity to go to Hawaii, not only to further my education, but also to join Him in His work there.

On January 10, I will begin a semester at the Youth With A Mission Base (YWAM) in Kona, on the big island of Hawaii. I have applied for the Discipleship Training School (DTS), a six-month program where I will study Biblical curriculum and minister to nonbelievers on the streets. From there, the Lord will work to place students on different teams to travel overseas.

The financial support is left to each applicant to raise. The tuition, mission field expenses, and overseas flights will amount to $8,000. The school asks that each student arrive with half the goal to begin classes. I do not have these funds stashed in some secret pocket of my Kelty backpack! But, I know that God has every detail worked out in His plan. I am gracious to all of those who can give financial support. Even what seem to be “small” contributions are multiplied in God’s “big-picture” plan. In my experience, by obedience we all become Christ’s hands and feet. God’s greatest commandments are to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:36-39

I am excited about the opportunity to serve and to minister, and ask you to join me in ministry. Praise God for His everlasting arms, His banner of love, and His blessings on the YWAM foundation. I ask that you prayerfully consider what you have to offer monetarily as well. I thank you in advance for your prayers and your financial support. May God bless you richly!

His therefore Yours,

Kelsey Maxine Tungseth

c/o University of the Nations


DTS 360 2011 Q1


75-5851 Kuakini Highway #429


Kailua-Kona, HI 96740-2199


United States of America

Cold Showers and Controversies

Followers of both science and religion will soon be forced to agree upon this statement.. One day things will get a lot worse than having to take a cold shower.

A new journal is one of the most exciting things that comes my way in this life. Today is the day I find another to add to the collection of tattered covers stored in some leather knapsack, their pages bleeding secrets and stories of the past.

If everything had gone as planned today, I would currently be sipping a chai tea latte at a lovely used bookstore, creasing the binding of my newly discovered treasure and, in my not-so-lovely handwriting, telling Dear Diary what I've been learning lately. What I learned long ago is that I can only plan that things will not go as planned. I say that with a smile on my face and a cup of peppermint passion fruit tea by my side.  

You see, my sister Raina lives in Manhattan; I'm in New York for Christmas this year. Last night, as Raina and I spent ninety agonizing minutes in a room 103* fahrenheit, we were reminded that you suffer in the hot yoga studio so you don't have to suffer in the real world. Upon our arrival at home, we watched the news, indulging on slices of pineapple and chips with guacamole. Soon after, I went to bed. Sorry to inform you, but I did not shower after my body sweat liters of impurities.. how pleasant. I slept great, started the day with green tea and some B-12, planned to do some shopping before meeting Raina for a late lunch, and jumped in the shower I had so looked forward to. I did not plan on the water being cold. I shut off the dial and waited, freezing, for a minute or two. Trying and failing with this method twice, I put on a second kettle of water for a second cup of tea.  

A cold shower really isn't the end of the world. Depending on where in the world you actually are, cold showers can even be a God send. Last summer in Thailand, for example, Raina Leigh and myself spent a day rock climbing in the scorching heat. The view was worth the work out, but the ants that somehow got inside our clothes were not warmly received. Never in my life has a cold shower been more appropriate. These ants were vicious; over the course of fifteen minutes, I was attacked three times. The ants got on my towel and my t-shirt. Three separate rinses under the cold water and I was a pitiful mess, itching to the point of tears; no wonder Raina couldn't help but laugh, I can't help but laugh now myself- nasty old ants. However, as I have previously mentioned, at this moment in time I am not in Thailand but in New York City, an area amid the handful of states to accumulate over two feet of snow just a few days ago. How does a hot shower sound to you now?

Perhaps I've been stranded in this 2010 East Coast Blizzard too long, but I've been using a website called http://www.stumbleupon.com/ ... I'm a fan. A web user creates a log in, selecting topics that grab their interest, while other users submit approved websites to be shuffled into topic categories. Many times have I criticized the role that technology plays in this modern age, but I am learning that, as with all things: because something is abused does not mean it is abused by all. The internet has the capability to do magnificent things, not simply fill your brain with silly yet entertaining youtube videos and facebook notifications. 

The internet not only has the capability to do so, but it is succeeding in connecting people from diverse cultures and backgrounds with one another. The website I 'stumbledupon' greatly changed my perspective on more that just one concept. The most significant effect on me came from the website http://www.droppingknowledge.org. A conference was held in Berlin nearly five years ago to ask 112 appointed speakers from countries across the globe one hundred questions. Answers were recorded, leaving the world with 112,000 answers and opinions to learn from. I took the time to click through a few, and am so impressed with the desire these people have to unite humanity everywhere. A statement I heard earlier has been echoing inside the walls of my mind: "The time of competition is gone, the time for cooperation has come."

While waiting for the hot water in the shower, I was thinking to myself, self, the time will come when you no longer complain that the water to shower in is cold, but weep because there is no water to drink. How blessed am I, as a resident of the United States, that this idea seems unrealistic and ridiculous? Hundreds of people die from the lack of clean water. Daily.

Today I read the twenty-first chapter of Revelation for my devotions. It begins, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. (Revelation 21:1-4)
We use words like experience God and friend of God, but, as musician Misty Edwards has said, I'm not sure we really know what we're talking about. God gave us this planet, and whether you stand for science or under the banner of His love, know that this earth will soon pass away. We have teams and panels formed across the world to inform people everywhere about global warming, sustainability, world order; as a Christian, I would love to be a part of a different revival. I want to be captured by the call of God. Isn't it amazing that all the ministry that we do, and all the tapes that are sent out, and all the Christian music that's produced, and all the buildings that are built; the fact of the matter is our nation continues to free-fall into hell tonight. Only when the church is captured by the call of God and the glory and the fire of His presence is resident in them will we see our nation changed.

John Wesley said, "What one generation tolerates, the next one will embrace." It is evident that in the last several decades, a lot has changed. Here are some stark realities of our present culture and our present generation. We live in a time where sin is not simply permitted, it's promoted. The divorce rate in America and even in Europe has doubled over the last fifty years. The number of babies being born to unmarried parents has sextupled in the last fifty years in our nation. The rate of violent crimes such as rape, incest, molestation, and murder has quadrupled in the last fifty years. The suicide rate among teenagers has tripled in the last fifty years. The illegal drug rate has skyrocketed in America to a multibillion dollar industry annually.
Despite the fact that America claims to have the highest number of professing Christians in the industrialized world,
we have the highest percentage of single parent families in the world
we have the highest abortion rate in the world
we have the highest rate of sexually transmitted diseases in the world
we have the highest teenage birthrate in the world
we have the highest rate of teenage drug use in the world.

Three and a half centuries ago our forefathers landed upon the shores of this nation and made covenant with God. They declared in the Mayflower Compact that they would be His people and that this land would be a light for the nations. In 1837 John Quincy Adams stood and said, "Posterity: you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it." Proverbs 22:28 says, "Do not move the ancient landmark that your fathers have set." Society today has tried to tell our generation that we have no Christian heritage in this nation, but there is overwhelming evidence throughout history that we are the heirs to a great Christian heritage in America. If there is no Christian heritage in our nation why then during the great awakening did the motto of our nation become "One nation under God", why then during the revolution did the cry arise, "No king but King Jesus!"

I hope it is obvious to all who find and read this at some point in time, I believe in God Almighty and am awestruck with His magnificence. I trust the Uncreated One. I believe He is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I cannot begin to wrap my brain around His plan, but I am honored to give my life back to whatever purpose He designed for me. I know that the Bible is His word. I like to think of it as our how-to... life's little manual. Everything we need to know is in that book. My question is sometimes, are we aware of what we've lost? See, it's one thing to lose something and know you've lost it, but I think it's probably one of the most insidious things of the enemy to come into the midst of a life, a generation, a nation, a city; and steal something while one is unaware that it's gone. If you look back to Genesis, we'll meet Adam, the first man God ever created. I've heard a lot of things said about what Adam lost; I've heard ideas of what Adam and Eve lost in their marriage. What did Adam really lose when he sinned? He lost his father. God came after him, but still, he lost a father. If there was anyone who was acutely aware of what he had lost, it was Adam. Now, we've got thousands of years removing us from the moment God gave time "it's"name, do we know what we've really lost? Are we even aware of what we've lost?

I can't begin to understand what we've lost. I don't know how valuable it is, I can't fathom how deep it goes, we don't understand the repercussions. What do I know of Holy? The revelation God gives to us as our Father is unimaginable. When Adam sinned, a veil was placed over his life, and he was cut off from revelation. A cloud of darkness came over his head, and what the Bible means by darkness, it means ignorance. The seven openings in the head which let Adam see, smell, taste, speak, and listen to God were cut off, veiled. Now he has no connection to his father, his father was the source of his revelation, and he can no longer easily receive information from his father by revelation. Corinthians talks about how the enemy has veiled the mind. The Father cannot reveal to Adam who he was and who he is and what he meant him to do. So now because he doesn't live by revelation, he lives by his senses. What he can touch; he lives his life by what he feels and what he stumbles into with his feet. Man started living by emotions because he has no revelation, because he lost his father, because only his father could reveal to him who he was.

In Matthew 24:35-37, Jesus states, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man."

We look back to the days of Noah and know it was a dark time of blatant sin and disregard for the laws of the Lord. Sadly, I believe we live in a world where we are so programmed to lust and desire after materialistic ideals and worldly concepts that we're blinded by what we think persecution looks like. Everything around us challenges God. We have become robotic in what is socially acceptable and politically correct so that the gun pointed to our souls screaming, "DENOUNCE CHRIST" is in our own hand. Lord, have mercy. There is something wrong. Yes, God is doing beautiful things, and God is blessing, and God is pouring out. But the reality is also that the enemy, the devil Satan, is destroying life after life after life after life.

Jesus is worthy of the reward of His suffering. He came by His own will to give His life as a sacrifice, dying a brutal death on a cross as an innocent man. He rose after three days and He is alive. He invites us to accept this gift. Receive the knowledge that God is drawing a people to Himself. Luke 9:23-27 "And he said to all, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God."

Science tells us we in a race against time with melting glaciers, that coastal nations will at some point be wiped out and eventually, that we are headed towards yet another ice age. There is an island of trash the size of the state of Texas floating in the Pacific Ocean. Millions of tons of carbon dioxide are released into the air everyday. I heard a question about global warming.. what are you doing to heal the earth?

The Bible tells us that an antichrist will reveal himself to the world as we near the end of the age, there will be a great falling away from God, and eventually a requirement will be made to take the mark of the beast to be allowed to buy and sell. As the fragrance and the flower are one, so must you and your creator become, friends. The wrath of God against the world's sin is mighty, but trust that He is mighty to save. The book of The Revelation goes into in depth detail of what the end of the world looks like. Glory to God, it also describes to us the phenomenal new heaven and earth we have to look forward to.


I took a cold shower today, met my sister Raina for lunch and ran a few errands. I suppose somewhere deep inside me I subconsciously expected to forget about my grand plan to buy a new journal. As absent minded as I am, I suppose that's another plan I can always plan to plan on. As I head to bed, hours too late, I can only laugh to myself as I realize my day long mind exercise was sparked by just two minutes of waiting on a cold shower. I can't express my happiness in saying, Lord, I trust this cold shower was a God send, thanks for leaving out the ants.

Dear Diary, tomorrow is the day I find another journal to add to the collection of tattered covers stored in some leather knapsack, their pages bleeding secrets and stories of the past.