The Box

I'm back in Redding after a great trip home to see my wonderful cousin, Alexandra Richard, marry Andrew Canada! It was a fun weekend of getting to know new people and celebrating with friends and family:

The beautiful bride and her good-looking cousins

I'll never get tired of looking at clouds from a plane, and I took this shot as we broke through the cloud barrier that covered Chicago. It reminds me that even on the cloudy days, the son is still shining above us:

Insert caption about how God is the same way

The latest news in the BSSM world is that today was the official day when mission trips for the Spring were announced. I'm going to South Korea! We'll be in Seoul training Christians, ministering to celebrities, and releasing God's Kingdom in a country that is home to some of the largest churches in the world (Yoido Full Gospel Church, for example). I'll send out a letter later with more details, but if you want to come alongside of me to help make this happen, you can give here. Pretty much the whole school will be covering the globe at the end of March, so please pray that people experience Jesus in radical ways.

We've also been training for our city service projects. These are practical ways that we are investing in the city of Redding to see it become more whole and filled with love. I'll be helping to lead a kids' program in our neighborhood every Thursday. We've already met many of the kids here so we're excited to see them meet the power of Jesus!

There are a lot of references here to the box that everyone carries. It basically signifies our understanding of God and how he works. If we hear or see something that's not in our box, we question it at first because it's not what we're used to. Everyone is born with a pretty big box, but it shrinks under the extreme pressure of the world and our experiences. As we grow in faith, our box gets bigger and we're open to newer and crazier things that God wants to do. Jesus had a very big box but the religious people he spoke with usually had tiny boxes. In fact, religion has a way of making the world's smallest boxes.

I love that Jesus doesn't try to shove his message into everyone's box. Like when he tells the people who are following him to eat his flesh and drink his blood (John 6:54). He had just fed the 5,000 and walked on water and was running a pretty great ministry in our eyes. But after this statement many people abandon him because the teaching was too hard. In their box, they wanted a king that would destroy their oppressors and be awesome, not cannibalistic. But the 12 disciples stayed close because they new that he carried "the words of eternal life."

Jesus also told parables to hide things from people who didn't have a big enough box to receive his message. Jesus says "I speak in parables, so that, 'though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand'" (Luke 8:10). The humble and hungry people who truly seek out Jesus to learn more are the ones who understand his messages. Proverbs also says that "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings" (Proverbs 25:2). God likes when we search for him.

I've noticed many times that I try to bend and fold the gospel in such a way that it will fit into someone's box. I think it comes from a good heart, wanting everyone to know the truth, but God doesn't need us to make him look good. It's his nature. Sharing his love and power with people will always sow a good seed, and that is more important than we may think. Just keep sowing.

Here's a new song that I like: Shores by Bryan and Katie Torwalt from Jesus Culture.

Forgiveness

The feeling of being caught up on homework is a great one. I hadn't felt it since falling behind when we went to retreat but now I sit knowing that I've read and written all that's required of me for now. I even had time last weekend to go to the driving range with some friends:

They opened up sign-ups for mission trips that will happen next March and we all chose our top 5 trips that we would like to go on (we'll be placed in only 1). So by the grace of God, I may be going to one of these 5 places in the Spring: South Korea, Hollywood, Mozambique, Israel, or South Sudan (that's a country now!). I was drawn to South Korea because my revival group leader, Young Kim, and his wife, Hannah will be leading the trip. All of the trips will be around 2 weeks long. We also got the opportunity to go to a ropes course as a revival group and spend time growing closer and doing cool activities together. You learn a lot about trust when you are holding onto 7 other people 40 feet up in the air:

Another awesome group I'm part of is the Single Life Workshop (about 800 people!). It sounds kind of weird, but it's something that I wish more people could experience. It was started by a couple who ran a workshop for married people, and then they realized that if they taught these principles to people before they were married, there wouldn't be so many marriages that needed saving. Their biggest focus is to be open and have nothing hidden, so we get really close with our small group of 8 people. One tactic they used was to have a time of silent listening where we wrote down things that God was telling us about ourselves. Then after the time was up they told everyone to read what they wrote down to the small group. I love being forced to be vulnerable (get weak), because it feels so good afterwards.

So far we've read 4 books for school (a miracle by itself) and my favorite is the one we just finished, The Supernatural Power of Forgiveness. It was written mostly by Jason Vallotton but his dad, Kris, wrote the last two chapters. I highly recommend it! Anyone who has ever experienced pain will benefit tremendously from this book. I'll end this post with my favorite nuggets (as my dad would say) and quotes from the book:

-Time does not heal wounds. There is a healing process that takes time, but without this process (of recognizing and mourning the pain) the wound will just fester and hurt more.

-We are the ones that hold the keys to our own happiness, but we can give those away if we decide that we can only be happy when others are. "Victims believe that their external world has to change in order for them to be okay."

-"Insecurity is actually security rooted in the wrong resource."

-Forgiveness does not mean reconciliation or trust. Trust is earned through relationship, but forgiveness was purchased by Christ on the cross.

-"The day that Jesus was crushed for our sins, He revealed the meaning of true justice. Justice was no longer found in revenge, but in forgiveness...true justice is only found when each person gets what Christ paid for on the cross."

This song literally would not get out of my head this week: For the Cross by Brian and Jenn Johnson

FOMO

What a week! Last weekend I went into the mountains to a retreat with my revival group and 4 other revival groups. We hit the ground running, as we were met by a group of enthusiastic 2nd year students who were waiting to prophesy over us. That was actually one of the highlights of the retreat for me, as they illustrated how easy and casual it can be to call out the greatness that God sees in people. It's really encouraging and I'm happy that the culture here is so full of it. During the remainder of the retreat, we spent time worshiping, listening to speakers, and inviting the Holy Spirit to come (and he doesn't need a second invitation). It was also very cold! So I was happy to get back to my home (it's home while I'm here, Mom) in the Valley.

Mt. Shasta, enjoying its new coat of snow.

We got a new world map for our apartment (I was pretty excited). It's not just any map though - it's a reversed map. Chew on this for a little bit:

Who said North was up anyway?

Ebi and Raj also cleaned out the spice section of Walmart to begin bringing India (and all of its smells) to our apartment. They are always generous and offer to feed us. 

This past school week was purity week for us, which meant we got to hear amazing talks from some of our pastors and a ministry called Moral Revolution. Kris Vallotton (pastor at Bethel) started the ministry and they travel all over, calling people to a higher standard of purity and setting people free from unhealthy baggage. It's really remarkable what they do. We were able to laugh and cry through this subject that many churches see as "touchy" or taboo. 

The fear of missing out (FOMO) is huge here. There is just so much to do. So many people to meet and so much of God's goodness to enjoy. Sometimes I have to sit back and tell myself "There are a lot of people out there who are going to do a bunch of amazing things that never involve me." Wait, really? Yes. And that's okay. Here's another thought that helps me - "Jesus is enough." Just him is enough, without all the other stuff. We don't ever have to worry about missing out on him because he's always there waiting to encounter us. 

Longing for more of him is good though. Usually when we find longing in our life, it's from lack. If you don't have something, you long for it. But so many things are opposite in the Kingdom of God. The more you get of God, the more you want him! And I heard a great word from someone about this tonight: Jesus is the one that leads us to God, so when we feel a longing for God, that itself is God in our lives. I've often been praying for more of God, wondering where he is, and not realizing that this longing for more is his Spirit inside of me, burning. Wow.

Go ahead and miss out on something. "For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom." (Luke 12:32) 

Song to check out this week is Spirit Break Out by Jesus Culture.