Revelation & Aspiration

Today is the last day of 2008--I can hardly believe it. I don't feel like writing a whole summary of all I've seen and done this year because it's all in the archives, instead I want to write mostly about the Leadership Training School (LTS) from which I just graduated, as well as some other recent items. It may be a bit long, but I'll try to make it interesting!

LTS is over! It was (to use some common superlatives) fantastic, dramatic, challenging, inspiring, and also frustrating at times. We really had some incredible people come share with us including the Cunninghams and Mark Anderson. I can honestly say much of what I learned is already bearing fruit in my life and vastly affecting the way I think and live.

LTS Highlights
One of the many areas I've been deeply challenged in is financial diligence. God clearly showed me that when it comes to money, as a leader, he needs me to come to another level in diligence, transparency, and faithfulness. I have since developed some creative tools for budgeting and tracking all my income and expenses in an effort to analyze my spending habits and hold myself accountable. It's a first step in making money my slave, rather than letting it be the other way around.

Also, through this process of compiling information about my finances in the last year, I was astonished when I saw the numbers and filled with a deep gratitude when I realized the extent to which people have supported me!

Another more unusual area God highlighted was my physical health. We had Coach Tim Powers come for a week (some of you probably know him) to lead us in excruciating, worshipful exercise! I know it sounds bizarre.

Tim travels around the world teaching missionaries how to take care of their bodies. His challenging message is about how we can no longer separate the spiritual element of our being from the physical. God wants everything. The dichotomous thinking we tend to have that our spiritual health is somehow more important than our physical health needs to be broken!

It made me realize that my failure to stay in good shape is not only unhealthy, but sinful! So one of my aspirations for this next year is to begin exercising more consistently, eat better and do everything I can to take care of this incredible body God has given me. After all, what else to I have to change this world with?

My thinking patterns have drastically changed too. I am totally into presuppositional and implicational thinking. I automatically analyze everything I see now looking for its roots and predicting its implications. This is really David Hamilton's influence on me, and I enjoyed his teaching most of all!

Now every time I see a need around me, or something that breaks God's heart, my brain switches to 'innovation mode' and is already developing plans to tackle the issue. As a result, I am filled with more vision than I can handle! Especially for Amsterdam, I have countless ideas of how to stimulate transformation in this city. I really have to spend time seeking God as to which ideas are actually feasible and which to run with.

A deep understanding of God's heart for the nations of the earth is another thing God instilled in me. I see now that the bible is all about the ethnos or nations of the earth, from Genesis to Revelation.

The idea was really driven home that there is not one biblical culture that we are all meant to conform to, but that God loves the variety in culture and is busy redeeming and perfecting them. The end goal of all missions efforts is that all nations would worship together, NOT as a 'melting pot' but as a fruit salad, not merely accepting each others' differences, but celebrating each others' uniqueness!

In addition to the lecture phase of the school, we were given the task of developing plans for a project that we are to implement in the coming years. Along with another I worked very hard praying, listening, brainstorming, and then carefully planning a project. It was incredible how God formed the vision in our hearts and gave us all the details. I will try to lay out the basic vision for you:

CLUSTER7
The global prayer movement that is currently emerging throughout the world is the largest so far in history. All over the earth, tens of thousands of young people are gathering in prayer rooms to seek the face of Jesus and intercede for the nations. This is a vital element that will help to prepare the Body for the second coming of Christ and usher in the consummation of the Kingdom of God on Earth.

Imagine now that these young people were not only spending time in prayer furnaces fully focused on God, but they were also being discipled, trained, and given a task. Imagine they caught the vision for world missions and were committed to the completion of the great commission!

We believe that God wants to marry the current missions movement and the emerging prayer movement into one. We believe that missions will be successful when youth reach out to the world from a place of spiritual intimacy, rooted and grounded in the passion that is cultivated in prayer furnaces. So we have decided to initiate CLUSTER7, a new youth movement aimed to marry prayer and missions together.

The central idea around this movement is multiplying mobile fellowships of youth that spend lots of time in the prayer furnaces, but also are being discipled, trained for missions, and stimulated in their creativity. We call these groups CLUSTERS.

CLUSTERS are basically youth churches without buildings that are passionate about missions, prayer, and discipleship. They are groups of youth committed to sharing life with each other and holding each other accountable. They meet together to pray, to learn, and to reach out to the world. All CLUSTERS have four main areas of focus: to spend time in prayer furnaces, to disciple one another, to actively engage in missions, and to eventually multiply into at least 7 other groups.

That is a basic overview of the vision without going into many details. We actually have a very clear 7-year plan laid out filled with milestones, supertasks, subtasks, goals, projected budgets and so forth. In fact, I've never been so detailed in my life! As to when we begin actually implementing this depends on when my partner returns to Amsterdam, and when and whether YWAM Netherlands approves of this as a new ministry.

Other Stuff
Another recent development in my life is that I met a very beautiful someone! Tetyana (or Tania) from the Ukraine is my official 'significant other'! We have been dating for about 3 months now, and enjoying every moment of it. We have lots in common in terms of passions and direction, so it's very exciting!! Check out my facebook for lots of pictures ;)

This next year is going to be busy with traveling and a variety of new ministry. I have been invited already to speak in 3 YWAM schools, and go on a number of international trips to speak and lead worship! I'm very excited about the new doors God is opening for me to use my giftings (though also filled with an appropriate amount of healthy fear!). God is great!

I also plan to continue my Dutch lessons. I am still at the stage where I can only have basic conversation with people, but my goal is to become fully fluent as I plan to stay here long-term.

My focus here in Amsterdam will also be changing a little. I will be working slightly less with the Cleft, and more with the Tabernacle of the Nations (our pioneering 24/7 prayer house in the district). I still will be leading the Cleft's street evangelism ministry and be part of their team meetings, but I feel that God has called me for the comming year to really invest a lot in the Tabernacle.

Prayer Points
- Clarity in vision (I've got plenty of it, I just need God's wisdom and direction in how to implement the many things he has filled my heart with).
- Please pray for God's continued grace to live here in the red light district; it is a tough place to be sometimes.
- Pray that I would be able to channel the frustration and anger I have towards what happens here every day in the district into constructive intercession and action!
- Please pray for Tania and I and our relationship.
- Pray for the red light district. Things are changing a lot here, but not always in the right way or for the right reasons. Pray especially that God would finally bring an end to prostitution, but not simply through legislation but by changing the mindset of the Dutch people!
- Pray for my language learning.
- Please pray for my finances, and consider giving if you believe in what I do! I am living with an income far below what is usually considered necessary for Amsterdam, so I need to see some breakthrough!

Thanks a lot for reading all of that. I always have so much more to share, but busy lives and short attention spans don't usually warrant that! I appreaciate your comments and encouragements! Please feel free to contact me regarding anything

God Bless, and happy new year!

SPF

Until the earth is filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.