Check out a few highlights from last weeks 50 hour burn.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
Video Update
I have decided this week to do a video blog and will probably be doing these for a while, it makes for a more personal experience for all of you who are so used to reading my blogs. Enjoy!
Monday, July 25, 2011
The Glory of Breakthrough
It is already the third week of the Awaken DTS and it is honestly hard to believe things have moved this fast. I am constantly amazed each year at the growth rate of the students, it seems as though they are going deeper faster each year of DTS. During my DTS I wasn't seeing the type of growth I am already seeing this year until the seventh or eighth week of my DTS. Already the Lord has been breaking through and tearing down strongholds in the hearts of the students. We have truly been seeing Jesus becoming the Lord of their lives at a rapid rate that is commonly not experienced in a DTS so quickly. I am a little perplexed at how or why there is such acceleration upon this school but the best opinion I could give is - it is because the staff is such a hungry for God group and we are all pressing into the glory of the Lord. Leading up to the school we had leaders around the base constantly coming to us as a whole and telling us they had never seen a group of staff that were pressing so hard into seeing heaven invade earth; so if I had to attribute the acceleration of this DTS to one thing it would be the staff crave and pursue intimacy with their creator above anything else.
Our first week of speakers was staff, which was an absolute blast. I got to take a slot of 30 minutes or so and I shared on 1st Corinthians 13, speaking on God's love for us and what it looks like toward us. As Awaken (the name of our DTS) we have done a lot of pioneering on this base in the area of breaking DTS out of the box that many have put it in. One of those things was having the staff take the whole first week of teaching and use that time to bring their testimony and share it with the whole school and also to bring a short prophetic declaration about this generation. The week was amazing, it was glorious and the Holy Spirit showed up every day! The messages the staff shared on an individual day all lined up with each other, just exhibiting to me the orchestrating power of God in every circumstance of our lives. As I took time to ask students what they thought of the first week of class all I got back were raving reviews about how they felt more comfortable with the staff of their DTS. Most students that come to DTS think the staff are high and mighty with a 'holier than thou" mentality; but with our approach to the first week it broke all preconceived notions about the staff and showed the students that we are on the same level as them. This take on the first week opened almost every heart to build deep relationships with all of the staff very quickly.
The second week of this DTS we had a man by the name of Ivan Roman with us; he spoke on hearing the voice of God. Truthfully, I was expecting another average teaching on this topic and I didn't think I was going to get a lot out of it. I could almost spend the week half listening and half paying attention to the class environment. But as the week kicked off Ivan had all of our attention through his story telling methods, he began the week with telling the school several stories of his salvation and how he entered the ministry. The great thing about stories is they put everybody listening on the same level. The first day of teaching he really felt to hit on the orphan spirit, which is what has affected all of us before we realize that we've been adopted as sons and daughters of God, and then to impart, imparting is a process of laying on of hands and praying that what you have would be given to the person that you are praying for, and pray for the spirit of adoption to fill the students hearts. The reason for this is - that if you don't understand your position in the kingdom and your position as a child of the King you will tend to listen for the wrong voice when you are seeking to hear God. The rest of the week was spent teaching on hearing God's voice, prophetic ministry, baptism of the Holy Spirit, and dream interpretation. It was honestly the best teaching on hearing God's voice that I have ever had.
This week we are blessed to have the founder of our mission, Loren Cunningham. He is speaking on the foundations of missions and the first day was filled with gold nuggets of wisdom and truth. There is a high expectancy upon this week and we are so honored to have him with us.
I am still in need of approximately $5,000 toward my outreach expenses. I am leading a team this fall to Northern Ireland (more about that coming soon!). If you feel lead to give towards furthering His kingdom as this team goes forth, you can follow the link on the right hand side of my blog. As always, thank you for reading and God bless you.
Our first week of speakers was staff, which was an absolute blast. I got to take a slot of 30 minutes or so and I shared on 1st Corinthians 13, speaking on God's love for us and what it looks like toward us. As Awaken (the name of our DTS) we have done a lot of pioneering on this base in the area of breaking DTS out of the box that many have put it in. One of those things was having the staff take the whole first week of teaching and use that time to bring their testimony and share it with the whole school and also to bring a short prophetic declaration about this generation. The week was amazing, it was glorious and the Holy Spirit showed up every day! The messages the staff shared on an individual day all lined up with each other, just exhibiting to me the orchestrating power of God in every circumstance of our lives. As I took time to ask students what they thought of the first week of class all I got back were raving reviews about how they felt more comfortable with the staff of their DTS. Most students that come to DTS think the staff are high and mighty with a 'holier than thou" mentality; but with our approach to the first week it broke all preconceived notions about the staff and showed the students that we are on the same level as them. This take on the first week opened almost every heart to build deep relationships with all of the staff very quickly.
The second week of this DTS we had a man by the name of Ivan Roman with us; he spoke on hearing the voice of God. Truthfully, I was expecting another average teaching on this topic and I didn't think I was going to get a lot out of it. I could almost spend the week half listening and half paying attention to the class environment. But as the week kicked off Ivan had all of our attention through his story telling methods, he began the week with telling the school several stories of his salvation and how he entered the ministry. The great thing about stories is they put everybody listening on the same level. The first day of teaching he really felt to hit on the orphan spirit, which is what has affected all of us before we realize that we've been adopted as sons and daughters of God, and then to impart, imparting is a process of laying on of hands and praying that what you have would be given to the person that you are praying for, and pray for the spirit of adoption to fill the students hearts. The reason for this is - that if you don't understand your position in the kingdom and your position as a child of the King you will tend to listen for the wrong voice when you are seeking to hear God. The rest of the week was spent teaching on hearing God's voice, prophetic ministry, baptism of the Holy Spirit, and dream interpretation. It was honestly the best teaching on hearing God's voice that I have ever had.
This week we are blessed to have the founder of our mission, Loren Cunningham. He is speaking on the foundations of missions and the first day was filled with gold nuggets of wisdom and truth. There is a high expectancy upon this week and we are so honored to have him with us.
I am still in need of approximately $5,000 toward my outreach expenses. I am leading a team this fall to Northern Ireland (more about that coming soon!). If you feel lead to give towards furthering His kingdom as this team goes forth, you can follow the link on the right hand side of my blog. As always, thank you for reading and God bless you.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
What is DTS?
Greetings from Kona, Hawaii! It’s been awhile since I have posted a blog, so I am going to give all of those who read this blog a simple run down of what a DTS (Discipleship Training School) is, what we do and what our goal for DTS students is. A DTS is the flagship school of Youth With a Mission (YWAM). If anyone would like to be part of YWAM long term they are required to take a DTS before they can work with the mission. This may sound a little weird to some, but it is done this way so everyone who works with YWAM will be on the same page as far as beliefs and values go. DTS is a school that lasts six months. It consists of three months of lecture on topics such as the character and nature of God, hearing God's voice, and spiritual warfare, etc...; the next three months are spent on a field assignment (outreach). This is the application portion of the school where students put into practice all they have learned and seek out the lost so they can disciple them. As a staff, my role in the school is directly for the students, I take part in discipling a group of men for the lecture phase, having one on ones with them, where I take time with them and process what is going on in their lives at the current point in time. I am also blessed with the opportunity to lead an outreach team for the field assignment phase of the school.
What do we do in DTS? I have given a short summary above but I would like to dive deeper into this topic. Most people who come to DTS are either young in the Lord or sometimes they do not know the Lord yet. What we try to do through a DTS is lead people into a correct perspective of God and what his will and purpose is for their life. We do this through the teachings during the lecture phase and through the application of the teaching during the outreach portion. The school lectures are a time where speakers are brought in to teach specifically on a topic they are educated on and point students toward the correct view of Jesus, The Holy Spirit and God the Father. We see a lot of change in people during these teaching times, especially during the teaching on the Father Heart of God. During the lecture phase we have worship a few mornings a week and prayer (intercession) on the other mornings. After class students have work duties for a couple of hours and/or they have small groups or one on ones with staff. The small groups and one on ones are built into the schedule as a processing time for the students so they can talk about the lectures and anything that has arisen in their hearts concerning the topic. This is the basic layout of a DTS lecture phase, along with different odds and ends added in over the course of the three months.
I'll group the goal of DTS and what a field assignment is into this last paragraph. The field assignment of a DTS is a three month trip to a different location from the lecture phase. During this time students are going out from the base so they can put into practice what they have learned during the DTS. Sharing with others the love of Jesus and bringing others into the same revelations of God as they received during the lecture portion of DTS. It is really a time for the students to step out into their callings and to advance the Kingdom of God through showing the love of Jesus Christ; which leads me into the goal of DTS. Our goal is to graduate students who can model the same thing they have been witnessing during the DTS. We want to create a reproducible model of discipleship so that when students go home or when they go onto something else in missions they have a model to base what they do from. Our goal is not to fix people so they are all better, but to get people more intimate with their Father God, Jesus and The Holy Spirit, so they can continue to be sanctified even when they have left the DTS environment.
This is simply a short summary of what I am going to be doing for the next six months. If you would like to partner with me either in prayer or financially it would be an enormous blessing. You can contact me at Cbergus@gmail.com if you have any questions, would like to partner with me, or if you would like to know more about DTS. God Bless.
What do we do in DTS? I have given a short summary above but I would like to dive deeper into this topic. Most people who come to DTS are either young in the Lord or sometimes they do not know the Lord yet. What we try to do through a DTS is lead people into a correct perspective of God and what his will and purpose is for their life. We do this through the teachings during the lecture phase and through the application of the teaching during the outreach portion. The school lectures are a time where speakers are brought in to teach specifically on a topic they are educated on and point students toward the correct view of Jesus, The Holy Spirit and God the Father. We see a lot of change in people during these teaching times, especially during the teaching on the Father Heart of God. During the lecture phase we have worship a few mornings a week and prayer (intercession) on the other mornings. After class students have work duties for a couple of hours and/or they have small groups or one on ones with staff. The small groups and one on ones are built into the schedule as a processing time for the students so they can talk about the lectures and anything that has arisen in their hearts concerning the topic. This is the basic layout of a DTS lecture phase, along with different odds and ends added in over the course of the three months.
I'll group the goal of DTS and what a field assignment is into this last paragraph. The field assignment of a DTS is a three month trip to a different location from the lecture phase. During this time students are going out from the base so they can put into practice what they have learned during the DTS. Sharing with others the love of Jesus and bringing others into the same revelations of God as they received during the lecture portion of DTS. It is really a time for the students to step out into their callings and to advance the Kingdom of God through showing the love of Jesus Christ; which leads me into the goal of DTS. Our goal is to graduate students who can model the same thing they have been witnessing during the DTS. We want to create a reproducible model of discipleship so that when students go home or when they go onto something else in missions they have a model to base what they do from. Our goal is not to fix people so they are all better, but to get people more intimate with their Father God, Jesus and The Holy Spirit, so they can continue to be sanctified even when they have left the DTS environment.
This is simply a short summary of what I am going to be doing for the next six months. If you would like to partner with me either in prayer or financially it would be an enormous blessing. You can contact me at Cbergus@gmail.com if you have any questions, would like to partner with me, or if you would like to know more about DTS. God Bless.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
So it begins
Staff training... the road to the DTS. We have officially pulled onto the fast track highway to the Awaken DTS this summer. Starting on June first our staff group of 29 have had Jeremy West from the YWAM training base in Montana with us and will have him for another week and a half. He is sharing with us about staffing a DTS and what kind of mindset a staff needs to have as they step in to this amazing role that influences lives for years to come. He has also shared a lot about the basic principles of being a Christian and how they pertain to our role as staff.
The one thing that has impacted me the most that Jeremy has shared so far, has been how as staff, we have to remain in a stance of a disciple always. We have to continue to be teachable and never think we are above learning or in a place of knowing it all. The students we disciple this summer will always have something to share with us and just because we have been doing this thing (YWAM) longer should not mean we can't learn from those who have just entered into the radical Christian lifestyle. We've gone into what a disciple really is; they are a person who lives and shares the teaching of the one who is discipling them. As followers of Jesus, therefore, we've got to go out and share what we have learned. We must live our lives worthy of our calling and never think we can know it all, simply because He is infinite and we can constantly be learning more.
The second topic the Lord has highlighted to me out of all of the teaching we have received so far is that I am to be a person who conducts his life equal to the gravity of my calling. I can't expect to simply live my life as Christ would only at certain points, but I must always be looking at how I am living and how I can improve my actions. Out of all of this, the Lord has been highlighting to me that I must change the attitude of my mind, simply because all of my actions come from a belief system in my mind, whether correct or incorrect. I am to do my best to conduct myself as Christ would and the easiest way to find out how to do this is to read my bible and live a life in accordance with the word of God. Like Paul says in Romans, we will be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so to you all, conduct your life in accordance with the weightiness of your calling.
There is so much more on my heart and if I were to write it all it would be extremely long. If you would like me to expound on anything I have written it would be my joy and pleasure. You can email me at Cbergus@gmail.com. I enjoy hearing from you, by email or snail mail, it’s always good to hear from friends. Thank you for reading!
The one thing that has impacted me the most that Jeremy has shared so far, has been how as staff, we have to remain in a stance of a disciple always. We have to continue to be teachable and never think we are above learning or in a place of knowing it all. The students we disciple this summer will always have something to share with us and just because we have been doing this thing (YWAM) longer should not mean we can't learn from those who have just entered into the radical Christian lifestyle. We've gone into what a disciple really is; they are a person who lives and shares the teaching of the one who is discipling them. As followers of Jesus, therefore, we've got to go out and share what we have learned. We must live our lives worthy of our calling and never think we can know it all, simply because He is infinite and we can constantly be learning more.
The second topic the Lord has highlighted to me out of all of the teaching we have received so far is that I am to be a person who conducts his life equal to the gravity of my calling. I can't expect to simply live my life as Christ would only at certain points, but I must always be looking at how I am living and how I can improve my actions. Out of all of this, the Lord has been highlighting to me that I must change the attitude of my mind, simply because all of my actions come from a belief system in my mind, whether correct or incorrect. I am to do my best to conduct myself as Christ would and the easiest way to find out how to do this is to read my bible and live a life in accordance with the word of God. Like Paul says in Romans, we will be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so to you all, conduct your life in accordance with the weightiness of your calling.
There is so much more on my heart and if I were to write it all it would be extremely long. If you would like me to expound on anything I have written it would be my joy and pleasure. You can email me at Cbergus@gmail.com. I enjoy hearing from you, by email or snail mail, it’s always good to hear from friends. Thank you for reading!
Sunday, May 22, 2011
What I've been doing
Since I have been writing so much lately about what has been on my heart and not so much about what it is I have been doing I am sure there are those of you out there a little curious of my whereabouts. Well you're in luck, this blog is going to give a brief overview of what I have been doing and what is going to be happening next month.
Since FCM ended in March I have been on the construction staff here on the YWAM campus in Kona. Currently I am working on a two story dorm building on campus that is located right across from my room. This is such a blessing because it literally takes about 5 seconds to walk from my bed to work in the morning, a great commute! Over the past two months I have been learning a lot and am really blown away by the amount of growth I've experienced. I worked with an electrician for a few weeks and learned how to run conduit through a building, as well as running fire wire from each smoke detector to the fire box at the end of our building. During this time I have also had the chance to grow in leadership; I am the work duty coordinator for the current DTS students who work with me, which means I'm their boss. Having this opportunity has helped me to better learn to delegate and given me a chance to lead by myself in a different circumstance than I'm used to. It is nothing like leading an outreach team where you have your team with you constantly and it is easy to lead them because you have relationship. I am also learning a lot about discipleship through having these work duty students, the most profound thing that has been revealed to me is -I have to model and not teach. I can tell them to pull weeds every work duty, but until I am willing to get down there and pull the weeds with them they are not going to hold the same amount of respect or follow my instruction the same way. This translates a lot into discipleship; we must model ourselves to others if we expect them to listen when we ask them or tell them to do something.
Onto the next month! Starting on June 2nd the Awaken staff is going to be having staff training for the DTS this summer. I am really looking forward to having all of the staff back and pursuing the Lord together. During this time we are going to be spending a lot of time together bonding, praying, calling students, etc . . . It is going to be a divine time for sure and there is so much expectancy in my heart for what lies ahead. If you have any questions or would like to know more about what I have been doing or will be doing in the next few months, please email me at Cbergus@gmail.com I would love to hear from you.
Since FCM ended in March I have been on the construction staff here on the YWAM campus in Kona. Currently I am working on a two story dorm building on campus that is located right across from my room. This is such a blessing because it literally takes about 5 seconds to walk from my bed to work in the morning, a great commute! Over the past two months I have been learning a lot and am really blown away by the amount of growth I've experienced. I worked with an electrician for a few weeks and learned how to run conduit through a building, as well as running fire wire from each smoke detector to the fire box at the end of our building. During this time I have also had the chance to grow in leadership; I am the work duty coordinator for the current DTS students who work with me, which means I'm their boss. Having this opportunity has helped me to better learn to delegate and given me a chance to lead by myself in a different circumstance than I'm used to. It is nothing like leading an outreach team where you have your team with you constantly and it is easy to lead them because you have relationship. I am also learning a lot about discipleship through having these work duty students, the most profound thing that has been revealed to me is -I have to model and not teach. I can tell them to pull weeds every work duty, but until I am willing to get down there and pull the weeds with them they are not going to hold the same amount of respect or follow my instruction the same way. This translates a lot into discipleship; we must model ourselves to others if we expect them to listen when we ask them or tell them to do something.
Onto the next month! Starting on June 2nd the Awaken staff is going to be having staff training for the DTS this summer. I am really looking forward to having all of the staff back and pursuing the Lord together. During this time we are going to be spending a lot of time together bonding, praying, calling students, etc . . . It is going to be a divine time for sure and there is so much expectancy in my heart for what lies ahead. If you have any questions or would like to know more about what I have been doing or will be doing in the next few months, please email me at Cbergus@gmail.com I would love to hear from you.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Prepared
"Preach the word; be ready in and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. 2 Timothy 4:2. As of late the Lord has been speaking to me about the value of being prepared so we can live from Gods perspective and not from a circumstantial perspective.
From a young age we are taught many subjects in school, from history to math, and I hadn’t really thought about why these were so important until now. Many, if not all students ask themselves at some point, "when will I ever use this?," I'm here to tell you all you learned in your days of schooling was to prepare you for your life ahead, so that you would be prepared in and out of season for the tasks set before you. While we are learning, whether it be a trade or what we see as simple book knowledge, we don't often grasp the value of the information at hand. But think about if a mechanic had no idea what he was doing when he opened the hood of your car. Now anybody with enough time and deductive reasoning can figure out how to solve a problem, but wouldn't you much rather have a skilled person working on your car so it takes the least amount of time? Tradesman go to school and sit as apprentices under skilled men of whatever specific field and sometimes they learn things that just seam pointless, but it prepares them so that in and out of season they will be ready for whatever may come their way. Take the military for example, every soldier is trained in hand to hand combat but rarely will they ever have a chance or even need to use the skills that they've learned in this arena, but when that rare situation occurs those soldiers are very glad they were prepared for such an encounter.
All of this being prepared can be viewed the same in the Kingdom of God. Some of us read the bible very reactively; when an event happens in our life or we are burning about a specific subject we want to read about that and only that. But as Paul tells Timothy, we must be prepared in and out of season. We ought to be reading the word all of the time so when a specific situation arises we don't have to scrounge around searching out where there is something in the word to encourage us in our time of need. A perfect example: in the western world we teach about persecution and that it will come and to know Jesus is with those who are persecuted. In our western society it is not very common for people to be persecuted for their faith, but when this does come those that have been taught about how God views it will not react to the circumstances because they know how God views this and that will lead them into the correct action.
Being prepared is why it is so important to study. You don't want a doctor who skipped one of their classes simply because they didn't see how it was useful to be diagnosing you. It is the same with the Bible, it is not smart to skip over parts or books you think are irrelevant. The word of God is relevant to all of us and it is relevant to every event in our life, so to be prepared is of great value. My challenge to you is to better know the word of God so when troubles and trials arise you are already equipped with God's perspective on your situation.
From a young age we are taught many subjects in school, from history to math, and I hadn’t really thought about why these were so important until now. Many, if not all students ask themselves at some point, "when will I ever use this?," I'm here to tell you all you learned in your days of schooling was to prepare you for your life ahead, so that you would be prepared in and out of season for the tasks set before you. While we are learning, whether it be a trade or what we see as simple book knowledge, we don't often grasp the value of the information at hand. But think about if a mechanic had no idea what he was doing when he opened the hood of your car. Now anybody with enough time and deductive reasoning can figure out how to solve a problem, but wouldn't you much rather have a skilled person working on your car so it takes the least amount of time? Tradesman go to school and sit as apprentices under skilled men of whatever specific field and sometimes they learn things that just seam pointless, but it prepares them so that in and out of season they will be ready for whatever may come their way. Take the military for example, every soldier is trained in hand to hand combat but rarely will they ever have a chance or even need to use the skills that they've learned in this arena, but when that rare situation occurs those soldiers are very glad they were prepared for such an encounter.
All of this being prepared can be viewed the same in the Kingdom of God. Some of us read the bible very reactively; when an event happens in our life or we are burning about a specific subject we want to read about that and only that. But as Paul tells Timothy, we must be prepared in and out of season. We ought to be reading the word all of the time so when a specific situation arises we don't have to scrounge around searching out where there is something in the word to encourage us in our time of need. A perfect example: in the western world we teach about persecution and that it will come and to know Jesus is with those who are persecuted. In our western society it is not very common for people to be persecuted for their faith, but when this does come those that have been taught about how God views it will not react to the circumstances because they know how God views this and that will lead them into the correct action.
Being prepared is why it is so important to study. You don't want a doctor who skipped one of their classes simply because they didn't see how it was useful to be diagnosing you. It is the same with the Bible, it is not smart to skip over parts or books you think are irrelevant. The word of God is relevant to all of us and it is relevant to every event in our life, so to be prepared is of great value. My challenge to you is to better know the word of God so when troubles and trials arise you are already equipped with God's perspective on your situation.
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