We've been having a super full first week here at DTS: Here's a little cap off of whats been up...
(September 27) David Hamilton spoke through YWAMs ministry
called Genesis-where webcams connect to the different schools worldwide so
leaders can share to different schools where they otherwise couldn’t reach
easily. David spoke from the base in Kona Hawaii. He challenged us to read the
Bible publically. To take the Word with other students out into the city and
read the Bible out loud. Once a month.
(September 28) Tom Bloomer took us on a chilly tour around
the city of Lausanne. He spoke on the Spiritual heritage in this city, the
history of the believers who have come here before us. Stories of those who
have been trained, sending out the first pastors of Switzerland, and the first
Christians who have laid down their lives for others. A tour of the cathedral,
different points of history around the city where important decisions have
occurred to shape history.
This week (October 1-5) the topic is the “Fear of the Lord,”
our speaker being John Bills. He is spending the whole week with us giving
lectures on this subject and really delving into what that means, what the Word
has to tell us about it, and our misconceptions on how we interrupt it.
In a nutshell folks: (October 1-2)
·
The Fear of God is a reverent sense of awe and
respect because you know who you stand before.
·
To fear God is to have a heart that is sensitive
to both his goodness and his graciousness.
We studied the word
“Grace” and the verses that applied to this.
·
It means to experience great awe and a deep joy
simultaneously when one begins to understand who God really is and what He has
done.
Asking ourselves questions like, “Who are we communicating
with” “How well do I know and understand the character of God?”
·
Therefore the true fear of God is not a fear
that makes a person run away and flee from God. It is a fear that drives him to
God and not away.
We will understand his mercy when we understand His
holiness. We looked at verses that describe what His holiness is and when
people in the Bible are in awe, with a fear of God because of His holiness.
John Bills challenged us to pray dangerously. To ask God to
“show me my heart as you see it.” “To break my heart for what breaks
Yours.” “To give us an innate sense of
compassion for others suffering.” This opened my eyes. We don’t want to pray
for something that might make us uncomfortable. Our generation has become
desensitized to suffering. We don’t care to realize its present.
That evening we talked about the Father’s heart of
Compassion. Why should we have and show compassion? Because it is a part of
God’s character, Jesus Himself modeled it on earth, it honors God, and He
commands us to! To truly know God is to defend the cause of the needy. Standing
up for the rights of the unfortunate, the needy, the afflicted, to seek
justice, defend the poor and plead for
the widow. (Is 1:16-17) Lend freely and sufficiently to our brother in need.
(Duet 15:7, 8:10-11)
