Thoughts from Alleli- Growth

I'm surprised the DIs haven't told me to shut up yet. I talk about "my girls" a lot...almost obsessively. Why? Because they're my girls.


One night, almost two years ago, I was driving with one of my girls, Lauren. We were talking about all the transition and change our church was going through. We had a new lead and youth pastor which brought a lot of change. Now, I don't necessarily do well with a lot of change. I was used to the way things were being done. I liked how things were being done; there was nothing wrong with it.

I told Lauren how I felt about all the transition and how I missed how things used to be done. She then said to me, "If you're not changing, you're not growing." That's a lot of conviction from somebody who's four years younger than me. Mind you, she was 14 at the time.

I'm 20 years old; change is inevitable. My parents are graciously taking care of my insurance payments as well as my cell phone bill. But sooner or later, I'm not going to be living in the comfort of my parents' financial umbrella. That's just one example of change I'll be going through shortly. I better grow and learn how to take care of my own financial needs.

So it got me thinking, if we're comfortable, typically we're complacent, we're apathetic, we're wasteful. It's not that we're losing ground, but we're not gaining any. There is nothing inherently wrong with being comfortable, but there needs to be a concious decision to gain ground and at least toe the line of something different.

Thoughts from Curtis-Real Faith

I was reading Psalm 27:2 “When the wicked come against me to eat my flesh my enemies and foes they stumble and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, my heat shall not fear; though war mat rise against me. In this I will be confident.”

I think that is a major declaration of how much David had faith in God and not man. I, for a long time, was really fickle with my relationship with God; on good days I would read my bible (and enjoy it). I was really in to worship and prayer and just felt good inside. But on bad days… it was really hard to come to the conclusion that God loved and cared about me.

As I read this the biggest part I see is we can’t let external elements determine our internal praise to God. You have to know in you heart that you will serve God in the good and bad times. Jesus never said it would be easy for us to live a life fully devoted to the pursuit of God. We know that there will be bumps in the road, but it's not about how many times you're hit; it's about how, when you get hit, if you are going to move forward and onward or back off.

I know this will not be a walk in the park, but if we put our trust in God, we can rest knowing greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. We will overcome, and it does not matter what happens to us now. We will still be found in desperate pursuit of God.

Thoughts from Jasen- Introduction

Hey there


My name is Jasen Petersen. Over break I did a lot of stuff... mostly just sat around, but I went to see I Am Legend and National Treasurer 2. They were really good. I also had Christmas with my family, and that was awesome. I got to hang out with friends and just have fun. I received a lot of clothes for Christmas as well as a set of headphones and money. I want to encourage you to keep praying and reading your Bible.

Thoughts from Kelly-Radicals

Who are the radicals?? I can't count how many times I've been called a 'radical Christian' since starting this internship. When I think about it, I could've done anything, gone anywhere. I had close to perfect grades and was a multi-sport athlete. I had the whole world in my hands, yet I took a year off school, left behind everything I was accustomed to and comfortable with and began a journey I wouldn't have even been able to dream of. I intentionally left behind the world of my past and started towards something much bigger than myself: a quest towards God.

While talking to an old pastor of mine, I was charged with a question. In the conversation I had made mention of radical Christianity several times before he finally asked me, "Kelly, what exactly is a radical?" It stopped me in my tracks!! Here I was, proclaiming myself to be something I didn't even know the definition of. My pastor could tell I wasn't at all expecting the question and laughed a little, before expanding on his wisdom.

A radical is someone defined as extreme, so what then is extreme Christianity and where exactly is it modeled? A radical Christian is one who is sold out; one who is abandoned to a cause greater than himself. A radical is one who surrenders their all, for the all of their King. The conversation stirred something inside of me. How many times have I surrendered again and again before the cross, yet moments later try to control all that's occurring around me?

So I've made a conscious decision: I'm only picking up my cross, nothing of this world, none of my own desires, worries, or pain. Only the cross and with my cross I will strive to abandonment. I WANT TO BE SOLD OUT!! Anyone with me??

Thoughts from Aly- Onething

“One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temle.”
Psalm 27:4

24 hour prayer and worship before the Throne of the Lord. Intercession for the nations and this generation. Waiting to hear the Lord speak. Immediate obedience and a heart completely alive to His Spirit. This is the vision of the Onething conference hosted by the International House of Prayer in Kansas City.

I attended for the first time this December and it was life changing! Over the four day conference God started a fire in my heart to start 24 hr prayer and worship across the nation. On the last day, we participated in The Call. The Call is a 12 hr period of fasting and praying for the nation. It was the best way to welcome in a new year I have ever experienced. We prayed for the issues of abortion and pornography keeping this nation in bondage. We prayed for our president and for the future president. My favorite part was when we prayed for healing for people in the room who were sick or injured. The group I was with experienced a miracles in our midst.

The man we prayed for had been suffering from back pain and a 70% curvature of his spine for years due to football injuries. While we were praying for him, we didn’t know what we were praying for only that we were praying for healing. As we were playing he felt fiery heat travel up his spine. His back started popping and the pain left. When we were finished praying he was standing up straight and had full range of motion.

It was amazing to see God work miracles that day. The Bible came alive to us. It was the most intense experience of my life. It was incredible to be in the room with 20,000 young people for 12 hrs seeking the face of God and interceding for the nation before the feet of Jesus!

Thoughts from Lindsey- Life thus far

DI this year has already been life changing for me this year. It has only been four months and I have changed so much. God has taught me so much about who He really is and how much He truly loves me.

I have also met some amazing people throughout this year starting with the amazing DIs I am surrounded by daily and learning from Dan and David Perkins in class. I am also gaining wisdom from Brent Parsley and Aaron Stern. DI has, thus far, been a great experience.

The first part that impacted me was going to all the prayer meetings. If you would have told me a year ago that I would be praying two hours daily I would have thought you were crazy. Prayer meetings in the Furnace have been so amazing and impacting. I have grown so close to God by seeking his face daily and crying out for change in my life and my generation. If there is anything I could say has helped me through life it is those prayer meetings.

Being part of _tag, the student ministry here at New Life, has also been amazing. Impacting students lives to help them seek after God has been a privilege. Just being a part of this movement by God is worth giving God a year of my life to greater advance His kingdom. From tour, to _tag, to the conference we are just getting started on creating, God is doing so much this year in my life and the lives around me.

Peace and Love!

Thoughts from Joel- Home

Hey Everyone, My name is Joel and I am a DI and I just wanted to tell how wonderful of a break I had. I got to catch up on a lot of sleep, spend time with friends, snowboard, and relax but most of all I had some awesome experiences with God at Church and in my quiet time. I grew in faith and was then able to share my faith with my friends and family. It was a really good all-around experience.

Thoughts from Whitney- Break

Hello Everyone! I just want to fill you in on what I did on this wonderful Christmas Break. First, I started out with my friend from Australia coming to stay at my place for a week. It went well, and it was very nice to see her.

After she left I had some family time, which was AMAZING! I love my family, I have a little sister who just turned 5 and she is my pride and joy! Then for New Years, my family and I flew to Los Angeles, California to go to Disneyland/California Adventure…let me tell you, it was a BLAST.

My mom's sister ( my aunt ) and her family met us there. My cousin and I are best friends so we got to catch up on life and have an amazing time on the the rides. My two favorite rides where Tower of Terror and Screamin’. Then I came home and now I'm back in wonderful Colorado with all of my DI family and friends!

I am Blessed!

Thoughts from Curtis- Desire

Hey…

So over this Christmas break I read Psalm 73:25,
“Whom have I in heaven but you? There is none upon earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the Strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

My favorite Part of this psalm is when he says, “there is none upon earth that I desire besides you.” I love this so much because David was so content with his relationship with God that the things that the world had to offer ment NOTHING to him.

I think that passage is amazing. It shows me how when your heart is so matured, your needs, wants, and desires for carnal things dissipate, and your hunger for intimacy grows like crazy.

Thoughts from Susan- Cleaning

It completely amazes me how God speaks to us through just about anything. For me during break, it was cleaning bathrooms. I’ve been trying to earn some extra money during break by detail cleaning bathrooms at the Lockheed Martin plant in Texas. At first I thought it was the most disgusting thing in the world and was way too good to be cleaning bathrooms. Somewhere along the line I actually started to enjoy it. I started to take pride in my work and the fact that I could transform a gross grimy bathroom into a sparkling one.

A few nights ago, as I was furiously scrubbing a particularly dirty sink, I had a rather odd thought. “God likes cleaning too!” It sounded pretty silly in my head because God certainly doesn’t clean bathrooms! Then after I thought about it, I realized it didn’t mean bathrooms; God loves to take his hurting children and clean up the mess in their lives.

Here's the thing; for the past year I haven’t trusted him enough to really come into my heart and clear it of the past. Sure, I let him come in every once in a while and take care of a few things, but parts of my heart kept clinging to the past no matter how much it was hurting me.

As many of the D.I.s could tell you, I’ve become a completely different person since coming to Colorado. I’m goofy, silly sassy Susan, and I like her way more than quiet, sad moody Susan. That’s the version of me that desperately clings to the past and refuses to let go when God is just trying to take all of it away. I don’t want that anymore, I don’t want to mull over what I’ve done and what I should have done to fix it. I’m tired of letting the enemy use the memories I’ve kept to make me so ashamed of everything. I’ve finally let go, let God come in and let Him take care of my mess. I only wish more people that live life clinging to their past could let God’s peace and joy reign over their hearts. Life’s a lot more pleasant like that.