Dear Friends and Family,
I am laying in bed, about to fall asleep. I am thinking about my day, thinking about the great things I have seen and thinking about the greater things to come. I will be teaching Taiwanese students, loving them, sharing Jesus with them, developing a friendship with 100 students(WHAT!?). I have seen 20 plus people accept Jesus into their hearts. I have seen lives changed and the world made a better place because the spirit that lived in Jesus lives in them now. I have a team of people who support each others, care for each other. I am viewed funny, cool, insightful, a servant, and loving to them. I am traveling, doing things that not many people do, nor are seeing in their lives. You know what is crazy?
I can't get satisfied by any of it. I still feel insignificant.
At the end of the day whom defines me is Christ Jesus. At the end of my day Jesus is my best friend and whom I look forward to lying next to before I fall asleep at night. He is the last person I long to talk to before I go to sleep. I love him.
Its true I get distracted by my work and forget Jesus sometimes but I quickly realize it. Come back to him to receive his affection, affirmation, and much more from Him. He is so faithful and jealous for us, I love it! Having a jealous God for me is the best thing because it shows he is faithful, loving, longing for us to know him and care for him. Love him equally as he loves/cares for us. :) He puts a smile on my face. I understand that jealously of God and I am grate full to have a jealous God. Oprah, you don't know what your talking about!(I have sorrow/compassion for you Oprah. Love you girl but your views are wacked!).....
I never thought I would write something about Oprah. I never knew I would understand the love of God for me. I am slowly understanding it and it makes me so grate full.
He makes me feel satisfied and significant. He is greater than I.
I must keep my focus and identity on him, the author of all creatures in heaven and under.
Love you Jesus. :)
Friday, July 29, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
TAIWAN
Dear Friends and Family,
We are in Taiwan. We are presently practicing our dances and dramas.
Our housing is awesome. We have bucket showers, beds that are foams on the floor, amazing food, and a alley to walk down that looks like its from a murder mystery film.
The whole travel experience took 32 hours. Three plane rides and three tasty meals on the plane. At the end of the whole experience my knees where killing me, my butt was numb, and I felt sick for a lil moment.
We landed in Tokyo Japan! Loved it....nothing happened while we were there but I stared out of the air imaging what was beyond the horizon. I listened to Underoath which is a band I wanted to listen to in Tokyo Japan because of their ambient sound. Check that off the bucket list. :D
Ya we are ready to love Jesus and the people here.
Peace out. Pray for us.
We are in Taiwan. We are presently practicing our dances and dramas.
Our housing is awesome. We have bucket showers, beds that are foams on the floor, amazing food, and a alley to walk down that looks like its from a murder mystery film.
The whole travel experience took 32 hours. Three plane rides and three tasty meals on the plane. At the end of the whole experience my knees where killing me, my butt was numb, and I felt sick for a lil moment.
We landed in Tokyo Japan! Loved it....nothing happened while we were there but I stared out of the air imaging what was beyond the horizon. I listened to Underoath which is a band I wanted to listen to in Tokyo Japan because of their ambient sound. Check that off the bucket list. :D
Ya we are ready to love Jesus and the people here.
Peace out. Pray for us.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Here is a encouraging story that I received. Artists in Christian Testimony is a ministry that is dedicated to binding Arts and Missions together.
Artists in Christian Testimony actually exists to facilitate the important role of the artist in ministry. But many of the church leaders still wonder what that is. In talking with Byron Spradlin recently he pointed out the following realities:
One, the best word in the Bible for what we know today as artist is the term "craftsman" (e.g. exodus 31, exodus 35) the word in Hebrew simply means "someone unusually wise at imaginative design and expression." This term craftsman really can include all Bible of the various categories of the arts we know today (including music, storytelling, drama, dance, and even film and technology, and literary arts). Every time you see these people in the operation in scripture you see them involved in creating environments where finite people are stepping into environments (designed by artists) wherein they meet with the transcendent God. Spradlin underscored the purpose of the arts as laid out in scripture: "to lead the human community and individual into touching the transcendent realities of life and God." From that we can see that God intended the artistically enabled person to actually be the facilitator for all of human community in putting handles on non-material but real transcendent things like beauty and goodness and love and kindness and appreciation and honor and reverence and worship.
Also he points out that when you take a hard look at the scriptures you will realize that really what the arts are is the imaginative rearrangement of human metaphors, symbols and expressions. Spradlin pointed out, "Isn’t that exactly what a worship service is made of?" We basically take human symbols and metaphors loaded with biblical truths and we enter into practices of activities that in themselves are not transcendent but in participating in them with faith focused on God, God actually comes to us and interacts with us and our lives are changed. That is also what we do when we pray by our self or have devotions by our self or sing a song by our self.
The artist is absolutely essential to human flourishing because the artist puts handles on realities that are not material but are absolutely essential for our life. So really the artist is much more than an entertainer, much more than some kind of solo critic commenting on culture. The artist actually reflects the heart of the people and creates those contexts – songs, poems, pictures, stories, films dances – that literally create envelopes wherein we hold these transcendent realities and interact with them.
These reasons lay out some of the expressions of why artistically capacity people are absolutely essential in church leadership, in missions leadership and in the Christian community engaging the mainstream community and the cultures in which we all live.
Artistic expression and artistic specialists "human expression specialists or imagination specialists” were designed by God. This is not something the church or others even have the option to vote on. God intended these specialized people to help facilitate the rest of humanity in first of all interacting with him and then secondly embracing and interacting with the transcendent realities that make our lives more fully human.
Artists in Christian Testimony actually exists to facilitate the important role of the artist in ministry. But many of the church leaders still wonder what that is. In talking with Byron Spradlin recently he pointed out the following realities:
One, the best word in the Bible for what we know today as artist is the term "craftsman" (e.g. exodus 31, exodus 35) the word in Hebrew simply means "someone unusually wise at imaginative design and expression." This term craftsman really can include all Bible of the various categories of the arts we know today (including music, storytelling, drama, dance, and even film and technology, and literary arts). Every time you see these people in the operation in scripture you see them involved in creating environments where finite people are stepping into environments (designed by artists) wherein they meet with the transcendent God. Spradlin underscored the purpose of the arts as laid out in scripture: "to lead the human community and individual into touching the transcendent realities of life and God." From that we can see that God intended the artistically enabled person to actually be the facilitator for all of human community in putting handles on non-material but real transcendent things like beauty and goodness and love and kindness and appreciation and honor and reverence and worship.
Also he points out that when you take a hard look at the scriptures you will realize that really what the arts are is the imaginative rearrangement of human metaphors, symbols and expressions. Spradlin pointed out, "Isn’t that exactly what a worship service is made of?" We basically take human symbols and metaphors loaded with biblical truths and we enter into practices of activities that in themselves are not transcendent but in participating in them with faith focused on God, God actually comes to us and interacts with us and our lives are changed. That is also what we do when we pray by our self or have devotions by our self or sing a song by our self.
The artist is absolutely essential to human flourishing because the artist puts handles on realities that are not material but are absolutely essential for our life. So really the artist is much more than an entertainer, much more than some kind of solo critic commenting on culture. The artist actually reflects the heart of the people and creates those contexts – songs, poems, pictures, stories, films dances – that literally create envelopes wherein we hold these transcendent realities and interact with them.
These reasons lay out some of the expressions of why artistically capacity people are absolutely essential in church leadership, in missions leadership and in the Christian community engaging the mainstream community and the cultures in which we all live.
Artistic expression and artistic specialists "human expression specialists or imagination specialists” were designed by God. This is not something the church or others even have the option to vote on. God intended these specialized people to help facilitate the rest of humanity in first of all interacting with him and then secondly embracing and interacting with the transcendent realities that make our lives more fully human.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Dear friends and family,
J.G. is changing lives. We are seeing teenagers turn to God for affirmation, love, forgiveness, hope, and someone to place their trust in. Its been a great sight to see teens reach for the love of God and encounter Jesus.
One night we talked about belief. That our lack of belief in God's characters and abilities is hindering us from growing closer to Him.
We as a group put aside our disbelief.
We were free to surrender, worship, unashamedly express our love for Jesus. Some ran, some danced, some sang, some simply sat in His presence.
God gave one girl forgiveness for her father for calling her fat and walking out on her. She has been absent of a father for many years but God came to her in the form of a Dad.
The students were moved by God to a new style of prayer. They named it "Prayer-Bombing". All of the guys were so over whelmed by Gods presence that they would run up to staff members and start praying for them!
It was a great victory to see students break free and express their love for God with freedom.
There are 68 other students that have stories of God moving deeply in their hearts. Its been full filling to serve and give life away to young people. J.G. is changing lives for eternity.
Thanks for reading!
Jordan
J.G. is changing lives. We are seeing teenagers turn to God for affirmation, love, forgiveness, hope, and someone to place their trust in. Its been a great sight to see teens reach for the love of God and encounter Jesus.
One night we talked about belief. That our lack of belief in God's characters and abilities is hindering us from growing closer to Him.
We as a group put aside our disbelief.
We were free to surrender, worship, unashamedly express our love for Jesus. Some ran, some danced, some sang, some simply sat in His presence.
God gave one girl forgiveness for her father for calling her fat and walking out on her. She has been absent of a father for many years but God came to her in the form of a Dad.
The students were moved by God to a new style of prayer. They named it "Prayer-Bombing". All of the guys were so over whelmed by Gods presence that they would run up to staff members and start praying for them!
It was a great victory to see students break free and express their love for God with freedom.
There are 68 other students that have stories of God moving deeply in their hearts. Its been full filling to serve and give life away to young people. J.G. is changing lives for eternity.
Thanks for reading!
Jordan
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