YWAM Update: New Schools and New Thrills

Hello everyone!
Coming to you from the shelters of family life in Christchurch! Here are a few things that have happened in the last two weeks. I have finished my BLS training! score! I surprised alot of people by arriving to dinner clean shaven! I moved into the Guys flat instead of living in the Hyatt (with girls) The hyatt is a group of recycled offices that were converted into bedrooms (they are prefab buildings) and I watched the departing snowboarder school leave for outreach. We have 3 teams going, Malaysia/Turkey, Queenstown/India, and Jordan. The Queenstown team will be staying for a night on base before leaving to goto India (in about two weeks?)

While we were sitting down in the guys flat we had a talk about what rooms we would stay in. We begun praying to find out if God was to say anything about it, and then began to discuss. While praying I felt like my flatmate, Kent, shouldn't have to move if it came to it. The other thought that came to mind was "I would like to be in the same room as Matt" (who had just arrived) The less obvious would be, that I would have to stay in the same room because of beds - since the bed that I was sleeping on can't be moved. So when we were discussing where everyone would go, I was able to be honest. Everyone of the little nudgings was answered, and we are now in the places we all want to be. While discussing, it was funny how everyone got the places they wanted. I had thought "I don't want Kent to move, because I want to serve him" and that, in addition to staying in the flat, was answered.

All the students that were supposed to leave on Outreach did - miraculously at the last minute everyone's outreach fees were paid for! This really became obviously amazing when I thought about how each would be going away very soon. God really is in no pressure for us to move until it's the right time. I managed to get into Oxford very early on the Monday morning, catching a ride to Rangiora, and managing to get to the worship in the morning just after it begun at 9am. When I got there, I was free as a bird, like I didn't care what people would say, I am free! free from peoples expectations. It was a peculiar feeling! Then I started dancing and joyfully singing. By the end of the meeting, I realized God loves me. That means what it says. This is rest.

What you do when you don't have to do anything is what happened for the rest of the weekend, preparing fallow ground, and waiting for the hand of God to pick me up and take me somewhere. As I write this it strikes me how amazing God's love is, it must be very ferocious. This past week, staff have arrived, and started BLS training for another season, I will not be joining them this time, as I have already finished it. The staff are coming in from all over, whether base staff, or joining the Backpackers or Justice schools. We are all a big family here! Students will be arriving close to the beginning of October, when the schools start. We are looking ahead to a Spirit-filled and restful time on base here - sustained by God's glory. Also, I will be applying to staff the next Around the World School in February,2012, this is where God is leading me to lately. O the joys of praying in my greatest dream!

Witnessing the breathe of world missions and evangelism

I want to discuss the importance of witnessing in missions and evangelism. I'm just letting my thoughts run where they will. I'm not intending to offend anyone.

The word witness in greek is μάρτυς (martys) which the word Martyr comes from in English. Consider this verse for a second here.

"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me [fn] in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

Also, a very key verse to me now mentions "For all the promises of God in Him [are] Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us." the word for "to the" comes from the greek word πρός (pros) which means "to the advantage of" it is to God's advantage that we witness of Him. Hallelujah!

Loving my brethren

I have been touched in my heart. I was praying for Backpacker students and I was lead to goto Revelation 3:

"I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, [that] the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see."

While reading this I was lead by God to goto Matthew 25:31-46

I had to ask the question of God, why are you leading me to this scripture? Neither have anything to do with this student.

While contemplating the verses in Matthew 25 the penny dropped:

"And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did [it] to one of the least of these My brethren, you did [it] to Me.'

Because if you love my ethnic brethren, you are loving me.

They are not just God's people, they are God's people. They are chosen by Him.

The treatment that you have of His people, is the treatment that you measure of Jesus, at the end of the age, when He comes in glory He is going to say "What did you do for my brethren?" unequivocally the same as saying "Do you love me?" The Man who sits on the throne of glory will set the judgment straight, with merciful judgment. Because He is also the Man who it says "will give eternal life to any that He chooses"

He chose them to be His, He entered into covenant with them.

He sent His only Son for them!

This is unconditional love!

In Deuteronomy 7 it says:

"For you [are] a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt."

We are confident then, that the kind of love that He has for Israel is peculiar. He doesn't love Israel the same way that He loves everyone else! He never intended it to be the same kind of love that He loves the rest of the world with. Every one who is loved of Him is loved peculiarly (or uniquely) this one is unique and special, precious, a treasure. This is the way that God loves us. Wouldn't that make you feel like loving everyone else in the same way, too? Saying "You need this love, too!"

Deceitfulness of wealth/Power of faith

Today I had some very troubling times, predominantly caused by anxiety and stress over finances - receiving wealth. There is a song by Laura Hackett called "I Put on Christ" some of the lyrics are really speaking to me right now:

Rise up, my soul, and start praying
'Cause I don't want to be defenseless

What if there is a connection between that? What if our war is against a kingdom that loads us down with burdens and unbelief and dissatisfaction of God's fullness. Yes there is, there is a war going on a war for our souls. Even us who know Jesus Christ, whom has saved us by his blood, there continues a large fight on this earth. A kingdom that is forcefully advancing. There is a war going on. Between the Kingdom of Darkness that puts blinders on our eyes, a world of mammon. Yes, I want to say, that it is predominantly a war against our soul. There are some scriptures that come to mind:

Matthew 6:19-21 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Matthew 16:24-28 "Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."

I will not quote the whole passage, but the pre-eminent one is in Matthew 19, the Rich Young Ruler. Jesus is making a example here. He's saying for anyone with worldly wealth, sell everything, give it away to the poor, and come follow Him. The two verses that I have put up strengthen the story. He goes on, after saying "come follow me" he says "How hard is it for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God!" But, what is impossible to man is possible to God. How can anyone be saved? (they ask, meaning, who will inherit the next age?) He promises anyone who follows Him in this way will inherit riches in the age to come. He is using an argument that He uses alot, that is, why should you die? you shall live through me! He is giving a better alternative, Himself, poured out by the Spirit.

How important it is that we stay accountable to each other! As often as I rise up in faith and believe His promises are good, but while I am troubled inside and confused, then I can't believe. The importance for coming together is in encouragement - so that faith will rise up! We are in a battle, a war for our very selfs. It's not just a surface level problem with financial anxiety. We are in the cockpit, flying the plane, it's us that could get taken out! What is at stakes here is Jesus! Our soul life, our redeemer, lover, savior. Believe me when I say when the battle is raging the least of my concerns is if I get money or not, I'm being coerced into saying Jesus does not satisfy, the greatest dream of my heart.

It's a lie that says you can be satisfied by possessions! You see faith works the opposite of the world. The world says this "I have been here before! I know what I'm doing" Faith says "I have never been here before, and this is completely new!" As it is written: "Choose you this day whom you will serve... As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" and "This is the day the Lord has made! We will rejoice and be glad in it!" In fact, at this moment. It's not just a day. At this moment! The world is saying this. "We create wealth by accumulating wealth" Faith says this "Just as God created light out of darkness, so God creates wealth out of nothing!" This is a financial power encounter for you today in the Spirit realm, to be set free into freedom. The wisdom is foolishness to the world, it says "Do not stop giving! do not stop tithing!" put yourself in voluntary weakness financially. God is not interested in the finances, he's interested in cultivating your heart, and watching it expand and grow.

So that you'll say "I can dream big dreams!" Basically, give away, hilariously! watch God come through big time! this is reasonable logic.
Of all the things that I've said, I like the most, that Jesus links soul life to an assaulting of the kingdom of darkness, primarily in the realm of finances because that is the Spirit of this age. He is so beautiful! He is so gorgeous and lovely. And I hold the key to His heart.

I want to suggest that the deceitfulness of wealth, mentioned in Matthew 13 is there because it will be the greatest cause for concern before His Kingdom comes in fullness. Think of fear, depression, rage, anger, hopelessness, bitterness, cancers, lust, adultery. This ground cannot bring the kind of peace and wellbeing that we crave.

Contending for the Power of God

After being "hit" by God's power today in church there are alot of -contingencies- to put down on paper and think about. I'm getting them out now while they are fresh.
Isaiah 29:18 "It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams, And look--he eats; But he awakes, and his soul is still empty; Or as when a thirsty man dreams, And look--he drinks; But he awakes, and indeed [he is] faint, And his soul still craves: So the multitude of all the nations shall be, Who fight[contend] against Mount Zion."
We are stuck in a generation that are content with imaginations, that aren't even real. If this is our situation this is terribly without faith.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. What we hope for, has to be substantial.
There are alot of things -altogether secondary- when contending for power break out - where the only primary is Him.
some of these things seem good but are secondary. Our goal in pressing into revival is fueled by intimacy. It will be a vain struggle if we do it outside of Intimacy. There was a word once spoken in our worship meeting which is "You want to break out in nations, and see the power of God manifest, you are doing it right now, when you are in worship, connecting with Jesus. It is out of intimacy that the break through will come"
When we connect with God, with His glory, then we know it's better than life. It's because of connecting with God, and it's in His court.
The part of contending for the power of God that interests me the most is this, Jesus. The difference is that when we voluntarily love Him, we are proving His love. He encourages us to affirm our love for Him. In fact, in a relationship, this kind of love, is known as confidence. If God so loved you, you affirm Him and show that He is better and worthy by loving Him. So, because the unlimited, uncreated, creative God has pursued us with His love, even though it does not come from us, everything is available to us by asking.
We live in a society that is reacting to all sorts of things and pressures coming their way, that for a person to be prepared will be the exception! Though it's important to use shock tactics to wake people up the primary way to wake people up to revival is in love. It is by maturing the love that everyone has. More specifically, it's important that the heart encounter God in His glory. Every person that came before us contended for revival out of a revelation of God's glory and goodness. The most earnest prayer will come from someone specifically hoping for something that is there, not something that is not there (what I mean by that is, "substantial" - like in Hebrews 11:1)
It may surprise you but the expectation - or hope - of God for Him pouring out His power is far greater (in magnitude, intensity, desire) than ours. the premise is the promises of God, like Daniel fervently coming into prayer for His nation in the 70th year of exile. So we partner in with God for what He is wanting to do on the earth.
My heart fills up with hope, it's Jesus, the desire of the nations, totally set on this one purpose, the pouring out of the Spirit in Oxford for revival. We have no other contingency. Like people before us, going to God though backed into a corner the victory will be won! This is all for one person, a Man, who is the Alpha, the Omega, the First and the Last, King of the Jews, lion and lamb, servant and Judge. The more we reflect on His promises, and this Man, the less we will be concerned about this world, we will be useful to God. There is only one solution it's Jesus.
God's creativity is fathomless, if We are glorifying Jesus then we are doing His will.
What I mean by desperation is, when judgment is coming, crying out desperate prayers, because of the shocking nature of the events. Alarm! Shock! Cry out!
God's glory is shocking also, stunning, when you don't know what to say (2 Chronicles 6:1; Matthew 17:4)
Some things to contend for:
Pouring out the Spirit and Grace
Encounters with the glory of God
That hearts will be changed towards Jesus
Consecration of our lives to God
Breakthrough in Healings
Young People raise up to have a vision of eternity
To see the rubbishness of sinfulness and inferior pleasures
Raising up witnesses of Jesus second coming
Preparing others for the events preceding His second coming
Pray for America - Judgment is in the Land - Joel 2:11-17
This has to come out of either desperation or God's certain glory (preferably the second but God uses the first as well)

Enjoying Shabbat: Keeping, Observing and Obeying Shabbat Law

Isaiah 58:13 "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, [From] doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, The holy [day] of the LORD honorable, And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own pleasure, Nor speaking [your own] words,"

A few scriptures that are highlighted regarding the Law and specifically Shabbat.

These are the very words of Jesus.
Matthew 5:20 "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds [the righteousness] of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."

Hebrews 3:15-19 "while it is said: "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion." For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, [was it] not all who came out of Egypt, [led] by Moses? Now with whom was He angry forty years? [Was it] not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief."

Romans 7:23-25 "But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin."

Today, while having a conversation with Kent, He asked me a question "So do you want me to help you move the mattress?" To understand this question I have to rewind a little. During the time that Jesus walked on earth, The Pharisees and Chief Priests were in eldership of Israel. One of the things that they say in the law is this:

Deuteronomy 17:8,9 "If a matter arises which is too hard for you to judge, between degrees of guilt for bloodshed, between one judgment or another, or between one punishment or another, matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the LORD your God chooses. And you shall come to the priests, the Levites, and to the judge [there] in those days, and inquire [of them]; they shall pronounce upon you the sentence of judgment."

Chief priests and lawyers were in a position of authority over the nation as to the way certain cases regarding the law were to be handled.

As we are aware, one of the biggest parts of the law is Shabbat. I will say in essence, Shabbat is a day of no work. Not just saying "I will rest" but "I will refrain from doing this, and that, and this and that on Shabbat - so that I will rest. Because the Shabbat day was given by God, and consecrated Holy, and a delight - to rest" a day where traditionally the time is spent thinking of God and the word of God.

I want to say, that the teachers (Rabbis) are right in their estimation of Shabbat, saying it is a day where work must not be done. They correctly divided this law. For all the 4000 and more regulations on Shabbat have been given as a delight, and the essence is to make this day a delight. O, that righteousness like this is seen on the earth!

Jesus, reveal to us the importance and joy of Shabbat!

In fact, Jesus also had alot to say about Shabbat. In John 5 he states:

19,20: "Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel."

a definition of miracles is mentioned here, "What he sees the Father do" Saying that all the works he does are miracles. By saying this, Jesus is saying "I cannot work, it's only the Father who works" - He fulfills the law of Shabbat, because if we are attaining to a righteousness, we need an example to go from. Jesus perfectly fulfills Shabbat law, because He perfectly obeys the Father. In fact,the Father is still longing for the same kind of fellowship as He originally created - where we walk with Him in the garden.

People think that part of becoming a Christian is getting rid of the law. But without the law I can never be conscious of my sin. It's only in knowing the law that my sinfulness if revealed. The law is good to us because it kills our flesh. Make no doubt about it, our flesh deceives us, and kills us, it says "these things are good for you" when they are not - and being ignorant we die. We are to hold the two in balance - in tension. The law of sin in our mind, and the law of the spirit of life in our hearts. Without the law we will never be keen to the motions of the Holy Spirit.

In finishing, I have to say something else. If the Shabbat has been given to us as a delight, showing us that we can't do anything, surely it should not just be for a single day? Yes, that's right! God has given Shabbat to us, as a kind of way to live out the rest of our week, when we get it right on Shabbat, we will get it right for the whole week, God does not want us just not working on Shabbat, but also for the rest of our lives, enjoying rest.

I want to stress this, the essence of Shabbat is to do no work. So we cannot condemn Jews who have accurately divided this word rightly. But without the Spirit we cannot expect to fulfill the righteousness that God is asking of us. As a follower of Jesus, His delight is my delight, and Jesus is excited about seeing His Father heal a paralytic, on Shabbat. How much then do I want to obey the words of Jesus in attaining righteousness greater than the Pharisees?

In finishing then, I want to tell the story. Kent asked me "do you want me to help you move the mattress" immediately in my mind I thought "I cannot lift a single finger on Shabbat - to move a mattress" then I listened to Him speak and said "Yes! of course! that's the whole point!" Thank you Spirit revelation. It's good to do no work on Shabbat, it is better to obey. And I will forever obey. I am compelled to obey.

(The reason that we do not enter into rest, is because of disobedience, in multiplying laws, we know that it makes it harder to obey, in the end, only the faithful will attain to righteousness)

Putting your house in order

This season, which started on August 29, and ends on the 7th of October, is part of the Jewish Calendar, called "The Season of Teshuvah" a fourty day period which culminates in Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Succat. It is a house preparation season, putting things in order for God - coming into a time of repentance, turning from sins, to the true God. Here are a few scriptures mentioning Houses in the Bible.

Joshua 24:15 "And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that [were] on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

Matthew 12:44,45 "Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when he comes, he finds [it] empty, swept, and put in order." (continues on)

Haggai 1:9 "[You] looked for much, but indeed [it came to] little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?" says the LORD of hosts. "Because of My house that [is in] ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house.

Freedom to choose

Here is a very good teaching on pursuing the knowledge of God, by Mike bickle, called Encountering the Magnificence of Jesus (Proverbs 2) the notes are here

Jesus opens up a whole new world to me, by grace.

I have been meditating on Proverbs today. While singing it out on the piano an epiphany came to mind, and the result is shared below. Enjoy! Actually, it's not the first time that I've been thinking about this particular topic.

The bible teaches that, while we were in the world, we were slaves. Romans 6:21:

What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things [is] death

We were free to do what we want, but none of the things we did resulted in life.

Jesus came to destroy the power of sin, and to reconcile us to the Father, transfer us into the Kingdom of Light, and give us eternal life.

In proverbs it uses very active and effective words to describe the way that we are to seek the knowledge of God. In Proverbs 2 it says:

2:3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, [And] lift up your voice for understanding,
2:4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as [for] hidden treasures;

In fact this is not the only time where the use of active (verbs) are used to describe the way we are to seek.

Eph 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,

Who is the one we are crying out to, and what is He giving to us? If we are asking for wisdom, then whose wisdom is it?

to find that wisdom is life. We also know that, God has made Christ, wisdom and power from God. When he bridged the gap of separation with us, by grace, the vast wealth of hidden mysteries and wisdom were revealed, (yes, were!) and the salvation that He wrought, also became the fullness of His glory. Christ being our salvation, is our life! When He gave Himself for us, He was providing the gap that was separating us from absolute and unlimited pleasure. Because Christ is everything!

When He says, "don't go back to doing the practices that you did, while in ignorance" who is He talking to? Surely just the people that live, gasping for breath because they were cut off from this life.

There is now nothing separating us from everything that we ever wanted. And Christ has been given the key. How does this all play itself out? Just in that, being united with Jesus means that when you are searching for wisdom, giving your heart to not depart, not turning away, giving attention, persevering for the gold, listening to instruction, being obedient, we are not outside the vast limitless mysteries and fullness that is Jesus Christ and he becomes everything. He did it Himself!

This is only the beginnings of the beginnings, this is what God has revealed to me by His Spirit because I live a lifestyle of hunger and encounter with God. Oh yes, but obedience is the first! I will not be hindered from encountering His love. I really cannot take anything! No one ever pointed to the Son when the Father is pouring forth His wisdom. No one ever said "nice singing" when you're singing about the one you love. No one ever said "nice serving" without looking at the person doing the work.

I just want to add as well, I'm looking forward to when Jesus arrives. I will see Him face-to-face. I also miss Him very much. Jesus is the same person forever. The one I obey will come to me because I want Him to - because I show it by my lifestyle and cry out for Him to come. These all happen because it's the same person. Beauty in Sovereignty

YWAM Update: Father's Day!

Hello everyone,

I'm feeling rather free at the moment. To explain, I have to share what has happened today. A phone call, a text message, and I decided I would like to come for a steam engine ride with the Weka Pass Railway in Waipara. So, at 10 oclock in the morning my brother Andrew arrived to pick us up (my brothers and I) and take a drive to Waipara. For anyone that has not heard of this, there are train tracks from Waipara (think of the mud house cafe surrounded by wineries) to Waikari. The journey takes roughly half an hour, however on the way there we are invited to get off the train, and watch it come around the corner. There were alot of people that took advantage of the time - including us, taking videos and photos of the whole experience. If you are into steam trains, make sure that you pop on for a ride (it runs roughly twice a month - search it up on the internet under "Weka Pass Railway")

So what makes me so free at this precise time? I realized that I'm the only one that knows God created all that I am seeing. While watching the mountainside, I was able to say "God how amazing is this place - This is really God's own" it makes me think that these simple excursions are what God intends us to delight in. My mind darts off into the way that the world was made, that He has sovereign control over the world, that I know Him. And that I'm financially free. What a wonderfully wonderful feeling. I mean to do exactly what I want to do, because I am not at the beck and call of money. This is where real multiplication begins. Today, Nathan Sinclair is choosing to live in the blessing, provision, and love of Father God.

Also, I'm bound by conscience and the desires of my heart to choose what is better, namely, God. This is where my freedom really comes from. I'm choosing the better part, which is to say with my mouth, God is better. Jesus you are worthy, you have won my heart. Because the freedom we have, it's a choice. But that choice is only because we see that we would rather be doing one thing or another thing. So then the choice that we made, bows down to our impulses (it's not the opposite). So then when God says "I want you to worship me" he is asking for us to choose what is better in our esteem. He wants us to be excited by Him, to love Him, to choose Him, to praise Him. Just like someone that raves about His favourite obsession.

If all this is what I have gained from the trip then that's wonderful. Because my Savior is Magnificent! I would do anything for Him because He's my superior pleasure!

As a matter of interest, I was working outside alot this week, we have been planting new plants around the base. The weather has made this very easy (it was sunny the entire time) - apart from the sprinkling of snow that came on Friday! Also watering the plants. We will be having the rest of the Backpackers, and Justice school staff arrive in the next week and they will begin staff training until the students arrive at the beginning of October. This marks two years of involvement at YWAM! There will also be a national YWAM gathering happening at our base in October, meaning the base is going to be packed full!

It will be super important to keep up the maintenance duties, and praying for unity among staff and students, that we would be like a family and that God would pervade the Spirit of Unity in encountering His person, and His people. Pray that we will have a large harvest on base as God gets to do what He wants. No better freedom! I'm super stoked for having your support and prayers. If you would like to find out more, I would love to catch up, honest!

Enjoying Shabbat Practical Realities

I'm thinking of how simple the instructions are. "Shabbat is a day of no work" we meet together as a family for the most important meal of the week. We share scripture readings and sing spirited songs. We don't need to wash our hands literally, because we know that Jesus said "it's not what comes into a man that makes him unclean, but what comes out of a man that makes him unclean"

I had the ideal shabbat last week. God had supernaturally given me the most perfect day, and I was taking captive my thoughts, excited about engaging in creative pursuits with my Father, and knowing "I'm not working today" - I need to speak up and let people know this is my day of rest, The day that I can be with my creator. I was so excited that I didn't even want to receive or take cell phone calls, think about what I have to do - If I did, I had to let people know that I'm not working today.