REPENT!

So the September DTS is finally and officially in the works. All 8 of our staff are here safe and sound...Roz and Dan from the UK; Bri from Australia; Cj, Amanda, and Paul from Canada; and Megan and Callie from the States.

It's been sweet as we have seen God already unify our staff team through the first few days of staff training. Kelly and I really have a vision to break the norm with this school. We hope to see the students and staff living and learning together as we seek out what it really looks like to live the kingdom; it looks a lot different than we might think. "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near" was the cry of a revolutionary who came not to start a new religion but to transform the social, political, economic, environmental, relational, and spiritual landscapes of our society. To "repent" literally means to re-think your life. To re-think the way we spend and earn money, the way we relate to people of other cultures and religions, the way we define success and greatness, even the way we view war and international diplomacy. What does Jesus have to say about these things? Does he say anything? We have all heard more than our share of the message about Jesus, but what about the message of Jesus? You know, blessed are the poor, love those who hate you, do not judge lest you be judged, if you want to become great you must become slave of all, it is better to give than to receive...did he really mean all that?! Do I actually believe all that (i mean who really considers the homeless guy down the street blessed)? At least I say I do, but I'm not sure it would be very apparent by the way I live my life.

Our hope for this DTS is simple: to look at the message of Jesus afresh, with new eyes, that we might begin to understand what it looks like to live out this message in a way that brings real change and real hope to our fellow humans. Our pray is that the students on this DTS will catch a vision to create with their lives what only their hearts can conceive; that is faith. To risk that Jesus' way of life really is the best way, and it has something real to offer a hurting and broken world. That if we begin to dream and live those dreams, the invisible will become visible and the impossible will become possible.

Jesus puts it this way: "Very truly I tell you, all who have faith in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these...(emphasis mine)"