Diakonia

There are different kinds of service, but we have the same LORD-1Corinthians 12:5

Before reading this tonight, I have always thought why do some people say "Spiritual Gifts are those that are described in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12 and Ephesians 4" Yet others 'add' extras, "You have the gift of music", "Your gifting is definetly tech stuff" etc. If you have the same question as I did, friends, you have an answer.

Diakonia is the greek word for service. 1 Corinthians 12:5 says there are different kinds of serivce. The greek definition of diakonia is ministry (heres where your deliverance, technology, music/worship, intersession etc 'gifts' come in), distrabution, helps, mission, preparations for the upcoming, performing (worship leading, preaching etc), tasks, works, office and relief.

Volnerability

Did I spell that right? Volnerability? Anywho, something quick Yahweh just showed me....

Our lack of volnerability to others makes us more volnerable to enemy attacks.

Volnerability, transparency, openness, 3 of my least favorite words. I know the importance of them, and the strategic methods of attack, yet I struggle with it. Why? Why dont I rise up and overcome? Why?

RAW

R.A.W~ Ready And Willing, a four day boot camp intended to train youth for mission. And what a great 4 day boot camp it was! It was so exciting, exhilerating, excellant and encouraging (sorry I was running with 'e' words). Where should I begin...how about salvation! A few delagetes that came out to this event got saved...HALLELUJAH. And a guy from the 614 community got saved aswell~HALLELUJAH!

The week began with the Wildings and my friend DJ Chris Michel, leading us into some worship, which was a step outside some attendents comfort zones, which was an excelent way to start it off! There was great, solid teaching, which the youth absorbed like sponges. There was great conviction, Godly sorrow and true repentance in some youth, which was awesome.

Another great thing was seeing kids as young as 14 getting mobalized into mission. There were some optional missions, but to the youth, they werent optional! The passion in these kids hearts was great, their compassion drove them to opt for the optional! It was beautiful. Even though it was a short time, I saw so much change. On more then one occation I would see someone come, shy, timid, unsure if they should be here and by the end of the week they were bold and knew exactly why they came.

When I was 14 I spent my spring break at a similar venue. Boot Camp. It was a mission based traing ground for youth...and man did it ever change me! I can honestly say if it wasnt for that week, I would not be at the place I am at now. Thats probally why i found this week at RAW so great, because i know how much it sows into peoples lives. Im still so pumped from it!

Gentle Harshness

I have never fully understood how gentle our God is, untill this morning. Sure I knew He was gentle, but the fullness of that came to me today. YHWH revealed something to me this morning, something harsh, something that I needed to work on, needed to change, yet He showed me this with such gentleness. If the same word was given to somebody who delivered it to me and I didn't hear it directly from the LORD, I may have reacted with bitterness or being hurt (which isnt the best reaction Im sure) but coming from the gentle spirit of God this harsh word didnt hurt, rather it motivated me to change.

How many hours of sleep do you get?

I was reading an article today...yes I was reading, actually I wasnt, my friend from Re:Cre8, (a coffee bar/drop in we run) was reading this article and sharred with me...and I found a very interesting fact out....

How many hours of sleep do you get a day, I mean night. I do realise I could have deleted the word day and replased it with night, but then you my friend would not be reading this extra sentance, and man that would be a shame. Anyways, according to TIME magasine those who sleep more then 7.5 hours a night die, thats right, die, sooner then those who dont. Im not kidding, those where the exact words....they will die sooner. Your health is in jeopardy if you exceed 7.5 hours. How many hours sleep do you get a night?

Im sick

As the title suggests...I am sick.
I have the flu! Yuck...but not the throwing up kind, Praise the LORD, but the aches and pains and fever and junk...last night my fever was 102! I have been sick for just over 4 days...so it should be dying off soon.

However, in being sick I have come to realise to a fullness of how compassionate and loving are my friends from the downtown eastside. I was in the heath contact center last night, a local drop in for people on the downtown eastside with a nurse, to see if there was anything they had to releive me of my pain. Well, it was like this you see, I arrived just as the nurse went on her break, therefore i had to wait 30 more mins in agony, but to my releif 4 of my friends were there, Shara, Garry, Pregnant Tracey and Tyler. Both Shara and Tracey went out of their way to make sure I was comfortable and hydrated. Aswell as asking other staff when the nurse would be available...allthough I was fine waiting, afterall i respect the union rules of breaks, but the mere fact they were conserned enought about my health to repeatedly ask was so comforting. Then today I saw Tracey again and she yelled across the street and then came over to make sure I was doing okay. Thank you LORD for friends who care.

Isaiah 53:5 "Surely He was whipped and beaten so we would be healed" LORD give us more faith!

Question of the Day

Do you use a normal toothbrush or an electric?

Nicole's Answer...

A normal one.

Question of the Day

If you were anything in the kitchen, excluding salt and light, what would you be?

Nicole's Answer....

Coffee, because I would wake people up.

Question of the Day

Todays question is...

Including your current country...how many countries have you visited?

Nicole's Answer...
1. Canada (BC, Alberta, Saskatchwan and Ontario)
2. USA (Washington State)

Question of the Day

What does your name mean?

Nicole's Answer...

Nicole is the female version of Nicholas and it means victory of the people and leader of the people.