Giddy up!

Hello everyone!

Well the heat is getting intense down here. And so are our lectures. This week was awesome. Everyone is just so hungry to see God move and ready for Him do big things! Dave was great. He has an amazing ability to be super super funny, but super super serious... without being awkward or face. His genuine spirit really touched everyone; he is definitely blessed by the Big Man upstairs. :)

'Fear of the Lord' definitely looks a lot different to me now... all good things of course. Along with reverential awe, Dave helped us understand what is means to fear the Lord by hating evil. When you start understanding who Jesus was and is and who you are in Him, He begins to shape and mold your heart. And the fruit of that involves not just loving what He loves. but hating what He hates. Which of course is a process, but a fun one. Giddy up! [these are Dave's infamous last words...and He's not even a cowboy!] :)


I am so excited [and grateful] for the incredible people that I've become friends with here. We've been growing so close, which is amazing for a group of 30! [I really need to get a group photo up here for you all to see]. We've just been having so much fun entertaining ourselves [no t.v.!] and that also leaves lots of time for us to talk. And I mean so good, solid, dare I say, life-changing conversations... so many good brains around here :)

One conversation this week honestly blew my mind. Hopefully it does yours....

We were talking about Christian 'jargon'. Allow me to explain. By that I mean words and phrases that Christians say that when they use them they just basically sound like they're 'flappin' their gums' to be quite frank. Not because they're frauds, but because we start to hear and say things so much that we forget the power and truth behind them. Ya follow?

...This example got to me the most: Jesus bore our sins, so that we could have eternal life.

Yes, this statement holds solid truth. Actually more truth than our puny minds can comprehend. So we were talking about what that actually means; how did Jesus "bear" our sins? Yes, we know that he died a horrid and terrible death on the cross. But Jesus actually FELT our sins, all of them- past, present, future. Can you imagine? This is where is gets good. We've heard this so many times, but in Mattew 27: 46 "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" At this very moment, Jesus was SEPERATED from His Father so he could pay the price of our debt, in order to be delivered. One girl here put it this way, He tricked Satan at his own game. Because, before Jesus died on the cross, Satan held the keys to death and Hades. But since Jesus was a perfect and innocent man, He won! BUT, he had to be seperated from God to do so.

How amazing that we are loved by a God like that. :) :) :)

Hope you guys have a wonderful weekend! We're going to Fraser Island tomorrow... and island of sand! We ride 4x4's around all weekend and sleep in tents! Bound to be pure fun, I'm sure.

Lots of love,
Jade