Yeaahhh!

Hey Guys

I'm sure a lot of you are wondering what's been going on in my life in the past month. I haven't exactly been able to update this blog as much as I would have hoped (my sister reminds me every day...) For this I am sorry! But I do want to thank you all for sticking with me in prayers throughout these past few months. I can't believe how fast time has gone by since I've been here. We've almost finished the New Testament of the bible!

I am doing fantastic. Things just keep getting better and better every day..Lately i've noticed a lot about how life works in terms of moods and emotions and how my level of zealousness can skyrocket to high spiritual peaks and then can so easily plummet into low valley's of doubt, fear and anger... I've witnessed this bizarre human phenomenon a lot since I've been here. The truth is...this time has not been easy, I've mentioned in previous updates that God has been exposing area's of pride and fear in my life. God is disassembling me. When you rebuild an engine, you have to replace broken or worn down parts, you have to adjust timing, you have to upgrade, renew and reassemble. I feel like all my parts are on the floor of the shop right now, but God is gently picking up each part and fixing it, buffing it, and adjusting it so that it will be able to run at its full potential. This process is painful but i know that as God continues to assemble me, I'm going to be able run like I've never been able to run before. It says in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that God's power is made perfect in my weakness.. I guess this is what I'm learning in SBS so far, if all these trials bring me closer to Jesus I want to walk willingly into them. The apostle Paul suffered numerous persecutions and imprisonments and was still able to say "for i have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound."

One really kool story lately, I was able to help staff at this Christian concert in the city of Taipei a few days ago where all these professional bands from Korea came to play. This is a very rare occasion in Taiwan since there is like a 2% population of Christians. You can see in these pictures above all the Buddhist temples surrounding the area and actually while these bands were playing there was a ceremony going on for a foreign god. It was a very powerful night, by the end of the concert I looked around and saw hundreds of Taiwanese lifting their arms praising God in the pouring rain. It was very inspiring...
On a darker note...the last few days there has been a holiday called the "dragon boat festival" which is one of the three major holidays in Taiwan. There has been non-stop parades every day and night where they would light fire works, burn incense, and publicly mutilate their bodies for their gods. You look at these people and they look possessed, I cant explain how real it is. It is hard not to judge these people but they have been believing these lies for centuries, believing that their ancestors will somehow rewards them for their earthly sacrifices..Please pray for Taiwan and our school that is caught in the middle of this.

I just want to make a public declaration to you all that I am going for it. I am not turning back, I am a servant of God and I am available for his use, however he pleases. I am willing to die to myself. I am sick of this fear I have had my whole life of rejection of failure, of commitment, of what others think. I'm going for it guys. Thanks again for support in my life, I'm so lucky to have people that take a genuine interest in my life.

Like Ed Granger would say "It is a privilege to serve our God with you"

Willing to be changed,
In the service of Jesus Christ

Jer

"The mature Christians I have met along the way are those who have failed and have learned to live gracefully with their failure. Faithfulness requires the courage to risk everything on Jesus, the willingness to keep growing, and the readiness to risk failure throughout our lives."

-Brennan Manning

Radi!

We have a new roommate from Cambodia named Radi. He's been in Vietnam for the past month waiting for the government of Taiwan to accept his visa and now has finally been approved to enter the country.

We start my favourite book of the bible next week. ROMANS!

Worship the only one!

So far we've made it through 9 books out of 66 books of the bible reading them 6 times and putting a considerable amount of time picking apart each verse of scripture. I can say with confidence that I've only scratched the surface of what is hidden in the word yet God has shown me so much of himself through the character of Jesus and how the issues in their day are so tangibly applicable in our life setting now. What seems sort of paradoxical is how, the more I start to understand the messages of the bible the more broken and sinful I feel as an individual which has helped me understand the concept of grace, that my deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus and have nothing to earn of deserve it. God is re-defining the way I view myself, other people and the purpose I serve in this world.

It is very easy to get caught up in our work here. I spend a lot of time sitting at my desk putting ridiculous amount of hours into my work but I am starting to learn how to best manage my time so that I'm not so absorbed in my work that I miss out on building life long relationships and aiming to bless the Taiwanese people. The values that we've placed in our school from day one is to be grounded in truth, growing in relationship and giving out what we've received. What a terrible tragedy it would be for me to go through nine months of bible school and never step outside and share Jesus with the millions of people I'm surrounded by who so badly are in need for the message of redemption. It all boils down to the right persective of loving God and loving other people. I want to know God more through the word but I want to let that inspire me to make a difference in the lives of lost souls, not to achieve personal heights of accomplishment but to live in a response to the freedom I have as a believer. The things we do for God shouldn't be motivated by the effort to look spiritual but compelled by an expression of thankfulness.

"When i get honest with myself, I admit i am a bundle of paradoxes. I believe and I doubt, I hope and get discouraged, I love and I hate, I feel bad about feeling good, I feel guilty about not feeling guilty, I am trusting yet suspicious, I am honest and still play games. To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light side and the dark. In admitting my shadow side I learn who I am and what Gods grace means. A saint is not someone who is good but who experiences the goodness of God." Erwin Manning-

In constant repair, learning to Love..

In the service of Jesus Christ

-Jer

(this picture is taken from the highest mountain in Taipei that we climbed two weekends ago, it overlooks the entire city)

Work and Play