ps

Justin - you should add a gadget called "pages" and upload your curriculum for your DCO training and networking! :) Also, I added a gadget of links (it now only has one link, which is my new Fukushima blog) and you can feel free to edit the gadget and add whatever links you think are helpful! :)

Prophesy and Dreams

So, this may seem very random...but in the last couple of weeks, I've had several discussions about prophesy, future, dream interpretation, etc., and I was wondering if you knew anything about it or had any experiences that would be good to share.

There are several people who, when they dream, I shut up and pay attention. One is my pastor's wife from Japan. She is a staunch woman of faith, and I have learned so much from her. She never seems like her dreams frighten her, or anything, but they seem very applicable to the situations we are going through. She has also seen visions.

Another girl that I worked with in Japan dreams fairly intensely as well, and she's been receiving a lot of dreams lately (it seems).

A third piece of the puzzle is that even people who would not say they were prophetic are saying things like, "I wonder how soon Japan will close its doors to the outside world again..." or "I wonder when the Japanese Lutheran Church will really die out..."

Is this spiritual warfare? Is it prophetic discernment? The only way I can think of responding is to pray and keep moving forward. Should it impact my decisions? How? Does it impact how we pray--is that the main goal of God sending the dreams?

Any thoughts? :)

"Yay, we're communicating!"

So, during my first several years in Japan, there were a lot of communication mess-ups. Two different languages and cultures clashing produce a hotbed of communicative struggles and hurt feelings, but thankfully they also produce a lot of strange jokes and laughter. The phrase "Yay! We're communicating!" was coined for those moments when people were completely talking past each other with hilarious results.

Anyway, I digress. :) The main point of this post is to get some feedback and let you guys (or just Justin :)) know about a new sort of "route" that I'm thinking of taking here...

I was only home a few days before I found this "Communication and Leadership" master's degree program online through Gonzaga University. It looks amazing, and I kept being drawn to it, and I wasn't really sure why--I'm not a comm major, and I don't necessarily enjoy the thought of political or organizational leadership. But, this degree and the courses really resonated with me, and the more I think about it, the more it seems to fit. Leadership...for discipleship, heck yeah you need leadership. Communication...what are theology, literature, music, and art (all things I'm excited about) besides channels of communication? What is the purpose of communication besides building of relationship and sharing truth--relationships between God and humans, humans and humans, and the truth about God's Son?

The other thing I'm super-excited about is that some of the classes involve communication through media, video-making, etc. I think that drama and DVD ministry in Japan would go really far...as well as the arts...hmmm. Food for thought.

Anyway...more later, and I'll flesh this out a bit more. These are just initial thoughts for now.

DCO Networking

Hey everyone! and by that I mean Haidee and I, lol. Hows it going? THIS IS MY FIRST BLOG POST EVER! I'm going to get this started I guess by letting you know what I've been busy doing this summer. NOTHING! and its awesome, although frustrating because I feel like I've been jailed.

But, I haven't been completely useless, I've been working on a business plan (of sorts) to form a DCO consulting business. woot! I don't know about you all, but I'm pretty certain the era of churches hiring full-time workers is over. So what are we going to do for jobs, besides open up businesses, go overseas or waste away in other fields?

I guess one way I see this working is to network with multiple churches to train congregational leaders (small group, elders, etc.). You know, spread the knowledge/expertise AND the cost around to several churches or groups, build bridges between those congregations and create a network of those who are trained and equipped to be leaders in those congregations. In a perfect world, perhaps create more of a market for DCO's.

So... my schedule has been an introvert's nirvana. I wake up, brew a pot of coffee (of course) and then sit down with some books, read, highlight, take notes, and repeat... eat if I remember.

Also, I tracked down a MACO grad, Peter Keyes, who apparently has been working very unofficially with an older bunch of DCOs and DCEs to do something similar, his ministry is called BOLD Outreach. Have you heard of him? It was a little frustrating, but also encouraging at least I'm not the only one with this idea. Also, I learned some pretty valuable things from him:

1) For the love of God (haha), don't limit yourself to LCMS churches.

2) Don't rely on the pastor to get it pushed through the board of elders.

3) Don't be passive in the process, after all, this is sales even if you are certified.

Well anyways, thats what I'm up to. Pray for me please, and if you have any recommendations or advice, I'm happy to listen. Blog at ya later.