I'm Singing in the Rain

Currently, it's 8:15 pm and it's raining. And thundering. And lightening. I'm sitting outside on my porch getting scared every time I hear the roar of the thunder. I love storms. They're calming (even though I get scared), they're so musical, and they bring a smell of rain that I love. I also have Kari Jobe radio playing on Pandora. Can the night get better? Um, probably not.

I just came back from our Thursday night O'hana gathering that we have weekly on Thursday nights. Tonight was just worship, no speaker. I love nights of just worship. Tonight, one of the leaders sang a song he had written about 2 Moravian missionaries who cried out to the slaves from the bow of a ship "May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering." The worship leader is a part of the School of Worship this quarter, so he sang the first part by himself (with band) then the rest of the school came and sang with him, like a choir. Immediately tears came down my face. Nothing sounds better than choirs of voices coming together to sing praise to such a worthy God. Voices are so beautiful when they come together and even on their own. God knew what He was doing when He gave us the gift of singing. He was giving Himself a gift too :) He loves hearing our songs, our praises, our voices just lifted to Him. Even the angels sing constantly, I bet they sound beautiful harmonizing together. (Sidenote: I may not have the best voice, but I do regret that I haven't been using it the past 4 years...) Music speaks so much to me, does it speak to you? We have been singing "Were You There?" in class and ah it sounds so wonderful. Same with "Amazing Grace" -- I think I get new revelations about grace every time we sing that song. Or listening to "Joyful, Joyful" from the movie Sister Act 2, goodness I could listen to that song all day long! "His Eye Is On The Sparrow" speaks so much to me!! It says "I sing because I'm happy, I sing because I'm free!" I'm so happy that I'm free, aren't you?? Or have you heard "There Is Power In the Blood"? I suggest listening to that song. There is wonder working power in the precious blood of the lamb! Amen! Thank you, God, for blessing so many people with the ability to sing and lift others with their songs to you!

I could go on and on about music, but I won't...... This week we have 2 speakers; the first 3 days we heard from Andy Byrd and today and tomorrow we will hear from Matt Beasley. Andy is on staff with YWAM and is in charge of DTSs run here at UofN. He started the Fire and Fragrance DTS here and has written books about being on fire for God and being a fragrance to the world for Him. He talked about the Heart of a Revolutionary. Our classroom is filled with 82 revolutionaries! We are all going to change the world in same way for the better. We have really been interceding a lot lately for this generation, that we wouldn't be passive anymore, that we would turn our society (and the world) back to God. By simply living out the gospel everyday, we can be ordinary revolutionaries. Andy talked about the Heart of a Revolutionary; five things that a revolutionary lives by. The first is that a revolutionary has Initiative, always the first to do something and start something, not scared to pioneer, to start from the ground and build up. A revolutionary is Presence-centered (addicted to Eden); living a life that is in habitual fellowship with God. Living a life that always chooses God and listens to Him for the next move. A revolutionary has Eternal Perspective. We only have 50-90 years (a lifespan) to react to circumstances with an eternal perspective. For instance, Andy said that when he was married he said he'd only have 2 children, because it was convenient, easy on a missionaries budget. His wife is now pregnant with their 4th child. He said when his 3rd child was born he heard God say, "Why would you want to limit your chance at co-creating something that will be able to glorify me for the rest of eternity? Why would you put a limit on how many creations you can be involved in that will be glory to me in their lifetime?" Andy has a goal of seeing 100 great-grandchildren before he dies. What we do on Earth is so short compared to living for FOREVER with God. So short. So stinkin' short. Why do we respond to things with an earthly perspective? We need to respond with an Eternal Perspective!! A Revolutionary knows the Authority of the Word in a believer's life. God's word is still alive! There is still power in praying prayers of the Bible, prayers that David wrote, that Paul wrote, prayers throughout the Bible are still applicable to our lives! There is power in the Word of God. The Bible isn't boring! The Bible isn't too long to read, isn't too hard to understand, isn't dead to nowaday living. Did you know that the Bible is the only book with an author who never dies? God is waiting for you to sit down and ask him questions about this passage and this king and this parable, He's ready to explain His word to you! Truth is ABSOLUTE not relative, it's in the Word of God. A Revolutionary lives in Happy Holiness. Philippians 1:9-10 "And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ,"  Basically, as you love, you gain more knowledge, then you get more revelations of God, then you have more love. Holiness comes from loving God, not trying to be perfect. Holiness is the absence of false gods or replacements. Holiness if from love, pursue God and holiness comes from that. Andy brought such good words to class and encouraged us to be more revolutionary. We can and will change the world. Have you ever heard of Circuit Riders? They are Methodist ministers during the Revolutionary War in America. Francis Asbury came from England to rise up a methodology of simply following God. One circuit rider, Jesse Walker said, "By the grace of God I have come to (city's name) and by the grace of God I will take this place!" I'm gonna start saying that wherever I go :)


Matt Beasley shared his testimony this morning and we will hear more from him tomorrow. Matt is from Greenville, South Carolina. He attended Southern Wesleyan in Central and attended NewSpring Church in Anderson. Matt, while there, started the LOT Project in Anderson and has made such an impact in that community. I was soo homesick while he was talking about the church I used to go to, the city I used to frequent, and the area I lived in for 4 years. I really wish I gotten more involved in the community around me while I was in Clemson. I can do that when I go back to wherever city God places me in after DTS. But Matt did the CommTrans DTS last year and then did the Circuit Riders school that was put on this summer in Kona. The outreach was to Orange County, CA so Matt is now living there working on college campuses and in churches and on the streets. I'm really excited to hear more from him tomorrow, he really is a perfect example of living a life for Christ to be a revolutionary. 


I apologize to you all for being so slack on my postings :( It won't happen again!! I realized today that I feel much better after I write out things I've been learning because this time gives me time to process and soak in what I've been learning. I will be posting more this weekend about Brian Brennt's week and more about what activities I've been doing here in Hawaii. Postings will not be so spaced out anymore, for both of our sakes! I'm so thankful for those of you reading these and your support! I miss home, but I'm thankful for this opportunity to learn more about our great God :) 


LOVE LOVE LOVE 


P.S. Here is a song we have listened to a good bit about being a revolutionary. It's long BUT please listen to the whole thing, it will get you fired up to go set a nation on fire! It's by Jake Hamilton and it's called "New Song".