SWORD of the Spirit

Sword of the Spirit=
WORD of God.

 {Lessons from John Piper}

<If> Love Hates + Peace Fights <then> Make War!!!

Genuine Love must Hate (hate what is evil +that which destroys+hate sin) and Peace-Makers must Fight 

(it may look like it's against flesh n blood but it's really against the principalities that enslave).

Therefore, Make War!!! against all lust in ourselves, all enslaving desires, against indifference to injustice. The only foothold the enemy, Satan, has in our life is our flesh and our sin.

There's a mean streak in Christianity & it's not against anyone but ourselves; it's against the meanness of           ourselves against others. 

_______________________________________________________________________

 The Past 

The above was in my drafts from Summer and the original name of the post was "Make War." So last Spring, God was calling me to do something that I didn't want to do because I knew what the results would be. He told me to be myself and to use My Voice to expose the disunity that existed in the fellowship. I knew that it would lead to me being misunderstood and rejected which is why I didn't want to do it also because I knew that the Truth would hurt so I didn't want to expose it to protect some people's feelings. But God told me that it was inevitable and I had to do it if I loved Him and if I loved my friends because it would be worth it in the end. In my Shakespeare class last Spring, we were reading Richard iii and God spoke through the lecture. Yeah that's random and funny but it was like a prophetic word I needed to hear right then. I can't find my notes :/ but it was something like: though Richard is obviously a dark character throughout the play, the war he caused at the end (which he dies in) is in a way what paved the way for "Richmond being crowned King Henry VII. Promising a new era of peace for England, the new king is betrothed to young Elizabeth in order to unite the warring houses of Lancaster and York." (Sparknotes) So through that God was confirming to me what I had to do: make war (things will be ugly and it would lead to death of self) to make peace (in the end there would be unity). It's not a fun role to play but someone had to do it. Before, I was trying to get everyone to do it, to fight for Truth and Love, but I realized all it takes is ♫ one man ♫ to start something (check out this song by Pita (Praise in this Age), David Nkennor, a Nigerian artist: One Man)

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’" (Matthew 10: 37-39) Guess who said this?? JESUS. Yup. You see that's what His Word does. It tears you apart first (coz whatever you were using to hold yourselves together is shallow and temporary hence fake) then it mends you together with the real stuff.

"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)

"It's better to be divided by truth, than to be united in error. It's better to speak the truth that hurts & then heals, than to speak a lie that will comfort & then kill. It is better to be hated for telling the truth than to be loved for telling a lie. It's better to stand alone with the truth, than to be wrong with a multitude. It is better to ultimately die with the truth, than to live with a lie." ~Adrian Rogers. 

This was Sho Baraka's performance at the Believers Conference a while back. ♫ I got the Word on my lips, the Word in my heart... reading that Word, living that Word, digging that Word... I got my pride on low and my faith on high (shield of faith) .... ♫                          

_____________________________________________________________________

The Present and The Future 

So when I bring up the past when I talk to people they're like, "well that's the past." And it yeah that's right, it is the past. But the point of bringing up the past is to learn from it in order not to repeat it; to change. And I also hear, "Well InterVarsity is different now... new people, some new staff...." But the thing is the messages I shared is not for an organization it's for people. So if you look at the people from last year nothing has changed. There is still disunity... I don't think you get what I'm saying so let me shift gears...

Present: Disunity. Future: Unity. I went to Beatrice's and Chris Barcelon's prayer meeting. I got there late and they were praying for Nigeria. They prayed over various issues facing the country from this cool facts & prayer request book for missionaries. I just prayed for Nigerian students at UCSB and America for God to build them up in their identity and to guide them into the destiny He purposed for them. Then right after Tarra prayed for the Nigerian community in America, against racism. And she prayed for the Nigerian church... "that there shouldn't be any sects in the Church but that the Nigerian Church and the White Church would be brought to complete unity. That it would be like Acts 2 where all the believers had everything in common." I found it interesting that she prayed this... more confirmation, also because it's so easy to see what the problem is when looking at others and harder to recognize when the problem is among yourselves. Get to the point Charlene. Ok I will.

Remember in the previous section when I said that my role was like that of Richard: to make war (expose disunity) in order to pave the way for unity among the warring houses of....? Well let me explain that... What is disunity? I have exposed that in a number of posts such as Colors of the Wind, Let My People Go and Who Cares? But still nobody cares, it seems. So I think a better question to ask is what is unity? Unity, which has been the main goal and application for the messages God gives me for the Church at UCSB, is what is described in Acts 2. People sharing their lives (their "natural" lives as well as their spiritual lives). Do read Acts 2: 42-47 for yourself. So that's unity. People from different ethnicities treating each other as family, God's family and loving each other deeply in truth and with actions. Now look around you. Look at the group of friends you hang out with. And then now answer this question: Is there unity in the fellowship, multi-ethnic InterVarsity? Is the unity in the Church at multi-ethnic UCSB? Is there unity in multi-ethnic America? Is there unity in the multi-ethnic world??? If you are finally admitting that the answers to those questions is NO! Then What are you doing about it??? Why are you comfortable with the disunity in the fellowship? We need to Make War! against fakeness/shallowness (if the love aint deep, it aint real) and unequal concern. It's time to divorce the darkness (anything that keeps us from pursuing deep/real love with others and keeping us from loving God with our all). Children of the light (that's who we are), arise and shine! Arise and love! Check out this video I made. If you are wondering why the great revival God promised us hasn't happened yet, that's because it starts with us, the church. On an individual level and also God wants us to be united in His Love coz that's what it's all about: Loving God and Loving others. So yeah let's love each other deeply. As we do that a great revival shall break forth then God will send us out to spread the Love! Oh and I'm not talking about years from now. This year. This hebrew year (started in September). Yay! Revival! God please revive our hearts and bind us together with Your Love. In Jesus' Name, Amen!  =)

I'm behind on blogging so I have other stuff to share in my drafts that I should have posted before this one. But I did this one first for InterVarsity... to let you guys know that I love you all. I don't hate any Staff, I just had to say what God told me to. And The Word is not against them, it's for us all. I didn't abandon you guys, God was re-directing me to reconnect with "my people"- my family and the black community on campus and He was working on me - I was a broken mess and He wanted me to remember who I am- He's still at work though. But yeah, I still wanted to be a part of your lives not just confined to seeing each other at certain events. I can't take surface-level stuff anymore. My heart craves depth. I want to know you more. To love you more. Yeah I'm leaving soon but I still want to care while I'm here and we can always keep in touch. K, love you guys! (whoever reads this) Peace! :) 

Application: (If you didn't catch it go back and Read Acts 1 and 2) Last week at Impact Bible study the topic was community and we talked about the Acts 2 church and here was some questions were left with:

1. What can keep us from forming close relationships with other Christians?

2. What is one action you can take this week to begin to overcome those barriers?

3. Can you think of any of your relationships with believers that aren't as they should be?

4. Identify one or two those relationships, seek, reconciliation, or just take an active step to improve them.

Labels / Masks

This was part of a message I sent to a friend a couple of years ago but I had saved it in my notes and I ran into it the other day and felt like posting it here.

You had asked me about labels that people have given me and I answered being quiet and shy and you asked if there was any other label or if those were the two main ones and I said those were the main ones but just after I said that another one came into mind, the label that I am not caring; and that one hurts the most.

 I realized that the labels “quiet” and “shy” didn’t affect me that much since they are in some sense true; I am quieter than most people around me and I am reserved and shy about some things but what I don’t like about them is the interpretations of those observational labels. Just because I am quiet doesn’t mean that I don’t have anything to say, anything of worth and just because I appear shy doesn’t mean that I am. 

The label that I am not caring hurts me the most because I realized that it is true. It is not true that I don’t care about people but it is true that I do care but I have let stuff prevent me from showing that I care and so if you don’t show that you care about people then they obviously think that you don’t. If I don’t show it then people won’t know it. And then I realized that that was my main problem with all the labels that the world gives me: People think that I am something different from what I am because I don’t show who I really am.  Labels will be forever out there, we can keep fighting them but they will keep coming so what are we to do?...Keep fighting them! How? First by recognizing the aim of the label: to discourage you from believing in the one label that defines who we are: Children of God. Then by showing who you really are, who God made you to be. Thats how we fight, by standing firm in our one true identity in Christ. 

From my own experience, the label war has always been on but at one point I stopped fighting and slowly but surely, without realizing what was going on I started living out the false labels that were thrown at me. And I thought that I was still the same (as when I was firmly rooted in my identity in Christ) but I didn’t realize that by not showing my true self, my true label, I was actually changing and conforming to the labels that were given to me. Why should I stay quiet when I do have something of worth to say and the opportunity to say it? Why should I stay seated when I have the chance to stand up and do something that God has enabled me to do?

Here are some relevant quotes I found online:

"Often the wounding goes so deep that we create masks and walls to hide behind as protection against further pain while we struggle with overcoming insecurity. So we become the persona that we are prepared to show, and hide the real self away.

We then either create a projected image that is defensive and cutting, or fall into the trap of self pity, projecting a poor self image which displays little confidence." (Read more at: Journey to Authenticity)

This is how I see it: When we were young kids we had an innocent perspective of life. We had no biases, we dreamt wildly, we were simple, we knew we couldn't do it on our own, we depended totally, almost everything was possible until we were taught to be "realistic."

The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask. Jim Morrison

Those quotes are true for myself. I got hurt by people close to me or those that I looked up to and so I created walls to prevent me from hurting. But then, "The walls we build through fear to protect ourselves become the very prisons that enslave us." ~Steve Foss. "...But perfect love drives out fear..." (1 John 4:18) So then I knew what I had to do: Just let go and let love flow. But that was the hard part. It was easier just to hide and run. But then it became a cycle and I wanted out. Through my experiences in college God has been forcing me to face my issues. I kept fighting which just made the process longer and more painful. When I started letting go, I gave Him room to renew my mind. And now I can finally see all the obstacles that were in my way (and they were so many! That's what you get when you to please the world, when you take on the labels the world gives you to try and fit in). And now I feel free! I got distracted the beginning of this quarter but God reminded me why I came back for this quarter. Not for school but for love. For relationships. Yeah the quarter is almost over but I'm still going to apply this while I'm here (yeah I had started to but I want to be more vulnerable and intentional) and just because my time in SB is coming to an end doesn't mean that relationships should end. They can be maintained. Now that I can see everything that was keeping me from pursuing all that I really want, deep relationships, and now that I surrendered that to God, I feel freed, healed and renewed. Praise God for His love, faithfulness and power! =) I'm Free to love and free to be! =)

Check out these songs. God reminded me who I am in Him and how He sees me and how He loves me. And that His Love is all I need =)

♫ All my life I have been called unworthy. Named by the voice of my shame and regret. But when I hear you whisper "child lift up your head" I remember oh God you're not done with me yet. I am redeemed, you set me free ♫ =)

_________________________________________________________________________

 Check out this really cool testimony :-)

The JOY of the Redeemed =D

Isaiah 35

1 The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus,
2 it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.

The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;

they will see the glory of the Lord, 
the splendor of our God :-)

3 Strengthen the feeble hands,

    steady the knees that give way;

4 say to those with fearful hearts,

    “Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
    he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
    he will come to save you.”
5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
    and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
6 Then will the lame leap like a deer,
    and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
    and streams in the desert.
7 The burning sand will become a pool,
    the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay,
    grass and reeds and papyrus will grow :)




8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; 
it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it. 9 No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, 10 and those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away :-D

A Prayer for myself and the Church: That we may be family. That we may love and treasure the individuals in our lives and put them before ourselves. That we may lay our lives down for LOVE :-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What is the Church?

{Hey :) If you don't have time for this you can skip the intro and start at "What is the Church?" or you can just read the last section, which is the main one, "The Family of God"-> A Call to Love. Or you can talk to me. I don't bite lol and I'd love to hang while I'm still at SB!}

INTRO: The Identity Crisis of The Church 

So if you haven't yet noticed I kinda went through an identity crisis which thrust me in desperate pursuit of Realness. This journey has been marked by points of achievement as well as major setbacks and failures. But God keeps telling me, "Remember who you are. Be yourself. Share your life with others."The first part is the easier part coz it's easy to find my identity by seeking the One who gave it to me. The next part has been the challenge but God is my help. He is still working on me and I can see some fruit already! It's Homecoming Season and I can feel the familiar Newness! I can feel the Change. I'm going natural! :) I start to flow when I let go. So through my own journey God also showed me that the church has also been going through an identity crisis and the messages He has been giving me to share with the church is the same thing He has been telling me. Here's an excerpt from the "What's Your Name?" post: This is "a time to break down and a time to build up" (#Ecclesiastes 3:3b). I've shared how God has been building me up and yes it is encouraging but it has also brought me a lot of pain. You see when He builds you up in your real identity He also wants to break down all your false identities and tear down all your masks." So that's what God has been doing in me and also through me. That's the thing that made me misunderstood because ♫ it sounds like destruction ♫ but it's actually part of His restoration plan for us. (Posts: Pruning and Family Matters)

Great news! It doesn't end there, there is a time to build up! And Now's the time!!! =)

________________________________________________________________________

WHAT IS THE CHURCH? ~ A TIME TO BUILD UP ~

I'll talk more about this video in the last section. It poses the the question: "What is The Church?"So in this post I'll go over The Church as: The Fellowship of the Holy Spirit, The Body of Christ and The Family of God <-main section (and in later posts: Children of the Light / Temples of the Holy Spirit and the Bride of Christ).
_________________________________________________________________________

The Fellowship of the Holy Spirit

I don't want to repeat myself much so here's part of the first email I sent to Staff on 10/2/11. Focus on what I highlighted:  "First thing, I'm really excited about what God is doing in us this year!!! Because before Pre-Fall I feel like a lot of things that we've been doing in InterVarsity has been really work-oriented and "us"-dependent instead of being inclined and fully dependent on the Holy Spirit. We have been concentrating on the last paragraph of Acts 2 too much and we made that our goal but we kinda did not really put emphasis on the rest of Acts 2 and recognizing the huge role of the Holy Spirit in making the community that resulted possible. And that caused a lot of the leaders including me to be burned out, stressed and harbor feelings of dissatisfaction and even bitterness towards leadership. Because we didn't emphasize the Holy Spirit's role that much, the work was mostly on us. We have been planning and doing things based on what we think we can accomplish, what seems reasonable like : let's pray for 20 people to get saved this year, that's a reasonable number right? Because if each leader evangelizes to like 1 of their friends then maybe 20 of them might get saved by the end of the year?- Yes that's pretty reasonable but the problem is that we are basing it on ourselves and what we think we can accomplish with our own strength. But thank God for Prefall and how He poured out His Holy Spirit and showed us that our focus should shift to the Holy Spirit, His purpose in our lives. He reminded us that it's not about us. It's all about Him. That's why He gave us the Holy Spirit coz we can't do it without Him. But with Him, and through His Holy Spirit, He will do exceedingly more than we've imagined. So we may keep our little numbers and little plans just to compare and be amazed by what God can and will do through His Holy Spirit this year. Look at Acts 2: 41 in just one day 3000 people were added to their number!!! In one day! That's something only the Holy Spirit can do!" {For the sake of clarity, I had a talk with staff about this email so to clear things up for you... I wasn't blaming anyone for anything, I recognize how God has been at work in InterVarsity in the past. And it's not a case of structure vs. Spirit. It's about Revival. I go over that in the posts: Unity is brewing up and Restoration.}

So the whole of last year the message God kept giving me for InterVarsity, (especially for the Class of 2012 & 2013 leaders who were there at the "crazy" prefall leaders retreat, and non-leaders as well) is that He wants to do something new. He wants to revive us, heal us and fill us with power so that we can be more alive spiritually (fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace etc) and to activate the gifts of the Holy Spirit for the edification of the body and to be His witnesses. God wants to bring increase in our lives!  HOW FUN AND EXCITING!!! :D And all He wanted us to do is wait on Him. And that's the same message He has given me this year. God wants to do something New. Revival is going to happen this year and it starts with His church. So let's Wake Up Church! Let's get together and wait on the Lord please. That's how we prepare the way for revival in the school. Unity is key. Read Acts 1 and 2 and the rest of Acts to get an idea of the New season that God wants us to step into (Acts of the Holy Spirit through the followers of Jesus) We are believers so let's believe and be prepared :-)

♫ We were meant to live for so much more! Have we lost ourselves [Church]? Maybe we've been living with our eyes half open. Maybe we're bent and broken. Broken. We were meant to live for so much more! ♫ Related post: Eyes Wide Open, Time to SEEK,  Remember who you are

__________________________________________________________

The Body of Christ

"Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it."

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. (1 Corinthians 12: 12-31a) Related posts: A Call for UNITY in the Body of Christ,  Unity is brewing up! and Threats to Fellowship.
__________________________________________________________________________

The Family of God

Skit: (Family eating dinner together at dinner table at home- 2 parents and 5 children, age range: 2-10 years). Mary, the oldest child, isn't at the table. Family proceeds with the meal. Jane, the youngest asks where Mary is. The mother tells her that she hasn't seen her all day. They all go back to eating then they go to bed. After a week, the brother John shares a funny memory (that involved Mary) with the rest of the family then he stops and thinks to himself "Hmmh, I wonder where she is. I haven't seen her for a week." He shrugs his shoulders and continues with his story. The family listens, laugh then go back to their daily routine. Three months later, the parents take their kids to the park. Helen, 8 years old, spots Mary on a swing and says, "Hi Mary! How's it going? We haven't seen you in a while. Why haven't you come home?" Even without Mary's response can you spot what's wrong with this picture? What's missing?....

(Black Sheep Confessions) 

Where is the Love? :'("Ohana means family. Family means no one get's left behind... or forgotten!"The above skit sounds preposterous right? What family would treat their daughter/sister that way? Mary had a cell phone yet no one texted her or called her. No one went out to look for her. They totally forgot about her. And what's worse is that they didn't actually forget about her, they just... for some reason, didn't care to look for her. Though they mentioned her they seemed untroubled by her disappearance. Untroubled and unmoved. They just didn't care about her. And look at their response when they saw her after three months... What?!... Unfortunately this is the state of the Church. Some people are missing. Some people are not included (whether or not they have officially been excluded/rejected). I wanna focus on the "building up" part in this post but at the same time I want to be vulnerable. Like Rici said at InterVarsity's Common Ground last year, "Racial rec happens when you share your uncensored self with the rest of the fellowship." So yeah, we just have to be real.

I was going to share more and be vulnerable but I think it'll end up being a repetitive remix of the posts: Who Cares? The Stink Bug and The Harvest. So I've realized all the messages that God gave me last year (and this year) for InterVarsity fellowship and His body at SB were all aimed at unity. I realized that I'm in the minority and so I have a different perspective. I see others in the minority, I see the others who are forgotten and left behind so God was using me to speak on their behalf (and for myself) and shed light on the division that already existed. Anyway, God just wants us (the Church) to remember who we are, His family and for everyone to love each other deeply as brothers and sisters. He wants there to be no division but equal concern. People think "division" just means fighting but it can also be apathy and lack of deep love, lack of equal concern. People get away with it when they focus on friendship rather than family. Like I've heard, "I don't know if this racial rec thing is really going to happen because people are just friends with who they want to be friends with. People are just different. Different personalities, different interests etc. So they choose their friends based on what they have in common."- Charity. That makes perfect sense when it comes to friendship but that excuse doesn't fly when it comes to family, God's family, because it results in division. Division by ethnicity, culture, school year and the like. So yeah, "cliques" form and those who do not fit into one of them because of their differences are left out. Anyway, God is our restorer :)

___________________________________________________________________________

"A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord!" (Mark 3:3b)

"And now I will show you the most excellent way." (1 Corinthians 12:31b)

A CALL TO BE THE CHURCH, TO BE GOD'S FAMILY. A CALL TO LOVE, TO LIVE.

Let's go back to the second video: "The Church is you?" -> So last year I was dissatified, dry and thirsty. My life was a mess. My relationship with God was suffering and my relationship with others was shallow. I was like that for quite some time before that but it was last year that everything seemed to go wrong and I couldn't take living like that anymore. I would always hope for change but I realized that doing things the same way over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity (Albert Einstein). So God told me, "You want more of Me? Then come get Me." He called me out of routine to seek Him first and to wait on Him. It's during that time that He showed me how good things such as my desire to be leader (to pour into the lives of others) and even my desire to be in community had turned into idols because I put them before my own relationship with Him. So He first called me out of leadership then also Common Ground so I winded up in "The Desert" and it is there that He satisfied my thirst with His Love as I waited on Him. So through that experience (for more details you can go to this post: Remember) God was reminding what it was all about. It's all about Him. My relationship with Him. God wants us as individuals to be rooted in our identity in Him. To find our identity and security in His Love. He wants to fill us up with more of His Spirit of power and love so that when we come together with other believers we are not just coming to receive but to give. To be ourselves. To fellowship. And I'm not just talking about during set events, but in life. Yeah church, we are meant to be lovers. Lovers of His presence. And givers of His Love =)

We are in a season of increase and a great revival is just around the bend. That's why God wants us to  thirst for Him and wait on Him like the apostles did in Acts because He wants to increase in us (fill us with more love) and prepare us for the increase that's coming (so that we can love more). He wants us to fill us up until we overflow. That's why I'm "The Desert" and crying to others to join me. Also God is doing a New thing! so it's a season of New Songs. God wants us to worship Him in spirit and in truth and in one voice.  :-) "A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God." (Isaiah 40:3) GOD IS BUILDING A HOUSE FOR ALL NATIONS!! WOOHOO! LET'S JUST PRAISE HIM!!! =)

Application:

• Let's do life together. Refer to the LIFE event I created on facebook. I had thought up the idea at the end of last spring after my observations: we were restricting fellowship to structured events. If we live like that we will be fellowshipping (treating each other as God's family) as well as loving our neighbors, "the lost sheep" and inviting them into a family rather than a club/organization. Love is all we need! :)
• Yeah that's it. Let's be family. Don't wait for a structured event to interact with someone else in the fellowship who's different from you (different year, ethnicity etc). Initiate. Invite people into your life. Share your culture, share your life. Love. This will prevent a lot of "miscommunication" problems and drama that results from not actually communicating. 
• Let's wait on the Lord together - Come together to worship, pray and wait. It it the Spirit of God that breaks down the walls that divide us and creates unity, creates fellowship, creates one body. That's why God wants us to wait on Him together. That's how we fight for each other. We love each other with the Love we receive. The Holy Spirit opens our eyes so that we can see more and love more :-) We can use the prayer shed or our own apartments! Just pick a time when you're free and invite others! So simple! And fun! (I'll be going to the prayer shed on Thursdays at 7. Let me know if you wanna join me. Or whenever you're free! :-)
• It's time to be the church without being confined by four walls and set times. God wants to increase in all areas of our lives so let's welcome Him. We don't need to take a break from our identity. Jesus wants to show us that He is Lord, The King of Glory, and He is Fun! Let's beware of the Threats to Fellowship.
• I'm tired of being a victim of circumstances and a failure. God's love is enough for me :) I've been crying out for unity but now it's time to lead by example and I'm finally stepping out this quarter. I'm leading! I'm doing it! It's been exciting and scary. Kinda like walking on water. When I look at the waves I start to sink but Jesus is so faithful. He keeps saving me! This is fun! Let's do it together! More application to come. Oh yeah, now you know my "secret agenda" -> I wanna know you more. I want to share my life. I want to Love! so I'm not letting my fears and insecurities hold me back no more. Love conquers all!  :)

My prayer for the Church: For us To be Rooted in Love (Listen to the song in that post: ♫Fellowshipping with the Father; Fellowshipping the Lord. Fellowshipping in the Spirit; Fellowshipping with the Family ♫ :)