This has been out for a while, but if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s pretty amazing.
God’s not after religion. He’s not after rituals. He’s not after performing, showing up, or saying the right words. He’s not after a clean past or flawless present. He’s most certainly not after perfect. He’s after your heart. And He’s for your heart.
Winning for God. Some interesting facts following Denver’s incredible overtime victory the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The fact that Tebow had 316 yards passing and averaged 31.6 yards per pass in the game didn’t escape notice on Sunday night. Tebow wore John 3:16 on his eye black in the 2009 BCS Championship game and has since become identified with the famous Bible message. The coincidental stats caused millions of fans to perform Google searches on the Bible passage in the past 24 hours. Here’s one more unbelievable stat: John Ourand of Sports Business Journal reports that the final quater-hour television rating for the Broncos-Steelers game was, you guessed it, 31.6. As it turns out, the lone interception thrown in the game on Sunday night came from Ben Roethlisberger. What down and distance were involved when he threw it? Third and 16. Of course.
(John 3:16 reads: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”)
In his post game interview, Tim thanked God for giving him the platform of football. This is guy is amazing, humble and an excellent role model.
Cole Menard
Worship is Forgiveness
“‘Lord, how many times can my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’
‘I tell you, not as many as seven,’ Jesus said to him, ‘but seventy times seven.’”
- Matthew 18:21-22
There is no greater power in our lives here on Earth than the ability to demonstrate love. To show mercy, grant grace, and to offer hope. The ability to forgive and forget. We all know the all too familiar weight of guilt, the oppressiveness of fear, the heart wrenching sensation that comes with letting someone down. We’ve been there. We know how it feels, we have all screwed up in the past and sometimes the only answer is to pick ourselves up and keep going. It’s tough. Jesus was there before too. Our God, He is not far but near, not impatient but eager to save. Our God and Redeemer has been there before too. He’s been tempted by Satan.
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. After He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, He was hungry.
Then the tempter approached Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
But He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Then the Devil took Him to the holy city, had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: He will give His angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”
Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.”
Again, the Devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. And he said to Him, “I will give You all these things if You will fall down and worship me.”
Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him.”
Then the Devil left Him, and immediately angels came and began to serve Him.”
God knows our trials and weakness, He allows Satan to test us to refine our faith, to make us perfect. (James 1) But the most important thing to recognize is this. “God proved His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! (Romans 5:8)” God forgave all of our transgressions. He showed us grace and mercy to wash us clean. Through His grace we are saved and can experience complete peace and rest in our spirit. And once we are at rest, God speaks to us and we can experience His true love.
Through the final sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, you and I are completely washed clean. Our sins once painted our souls as red as scarlet, the weight of sin trapping and condemning us, but thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus we have been redeemed and washed as white as snow. God forgave us, so forgive one another. “Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a log in your eye? Hypocrite! First take the log out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:3-5)”
So, I challenge you, God dares you. Show love, show forgiveness, give hope. You know how it feels to be condemned; Give the gift of forgiveness. I dare you. God forgave you; it’s time to pay it forward.
As you prepare for the coming year, make knowing God your number one priority. Humble yourself before the Lord and let Him shape your character.
2011 was another remarkable year. For me, it was a year of breakthrough and God constantly revealing Himself to me in ways in which I thought were unimaginable. Thank you God for everything in 2011: the memories, blessings, trials, pain, joy, friends and everything else that made it remarkable.
It’s funny, when I thought I was at the pinnacle of where I could be (for example, leading missions trip), God stepped in and showed me more. He elevated the platform He gave to our team and totally blew our minds away. I don’t write to boast about my life, but what about God is doing in my life. What God is doing in my life, He can do in yours..you just need to follow Him. Without or apart from Him, we can do nothing. But with Him, there are no bounds to the greatness He has in store for our lives.
Ephesians 3:20 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us..”
Honor God and He will Honor you..
January: Planning for our relationship conference and taking on leading a missions trip
February: KGKL’s first relationship conference entitled “Passion & Purity”
May: Red and White Affair Birthday Celebration
June: led a mission’s trip to Cebu, Philippines with some of the most awesome people ever
July: Grace Bible Church Pearlside Youth Camp
October: New KGKL shirts
November: Gabe Bondoc Concert and got to meet him, Overseer at Grace Bible Church Pearlside
December: Pure Beauty Conference, Krinda leaves Hawaii
Interview with TBN
Amazing and can’t wait to see what God has in store for 2012..
Honor God and He will honor you.
Dear All,
As you well know, we are getting closer to my birthday. Every year there is a celebration in my honor and I think that this year the celebration will be repeated.
During this time there are many people shopping for gifts, there are many radio announcements, TV commercials, and in every part of the world everyone is talking that my birthday is getting closer and closer.
It is really very nice to know, that at least once a year, some people think of me.
As you know, the celebration of my birthday began many years ago.
At first people seemed to understand and be thankful of all that I did for them, but in these times, no one seems to know the reason for the celebration.
Family and friends get together and have a lot of fun, but they don’t know the meaning of the celebration. I remember that last year there was a great feast in my honor. The dinner table was full of delicious foods, pastries, fruits, assorted nuts and chocolates. The decorations were exquisite and there were many, many beautifully wrapped gifts.
But, do you want to know something? I wasn’t invited.
I was the guest of honor and they didn’t remember to send me an invitation.
The party was for me, but when that great day came, I was left outside, they closed the door in my face and I wanted to be with them and share their table.
In truth, that didn’t surprise me because in the last few years all close their doors to me. Since I wasn’t invited, I decided to enter the party without making any noise. I went in and stood in a corner.
They were all drinking; there were some who were drunk and telling jokes and laughing at everything. They were having a grand time.
To top it all, this big fat man all dressed in red wearing a long white beard entered the room yelling Ho-Ho-Ho! He seemed drunk. He sat on the sofa and all the children ran to him, saying: ”Santa Claus, Santa Claus” as if the party were in his honor!
At midnight all the people began to hug each other; I extended my arms waiting for someone to hug me and do you know no-one hugged me.
Suddenly they all began to share gifts. They opened them one by one with great expectation. When all had been opened, I looked to see if, maybe, there was one for me. What would you feel if on your birthday everybody shared gifts and you did not get one?
I then understood that I was unwanted at that party and quietly left.
Every year it gets worse. People only remember the gifts, the parties, to eat and drink, and nobody remembers me.
I would like this Christmas that you allow me to enter into your life.
I would like that you recognize the fact that almost two thousand years ago I came to this world to give my life for you, on the cross, to save you.
Today, I only want that you believe this with all your heart.
I want to share something with you. As many didn’t invite me to their party, I will have my own celebration, a grandiose party that no one has ever imagined, a spectacular party. I’m still making the final arrangements.
Today I am sending out many invitations and there is an invitation for you. I want to know if you wish to attend and I will make a reservation for you and write your name with golden letters in my great guest book.
Only those on the guest list will be invited to the party.
Those who don’t answer the invite, will be left outside. Be prepared because when all is ready you will be part of my great party.
See you soon.
Love,
Jesus Christ
We here at KnowGodKnowLove would like to extend our aloha and ask for your help this Christmas season. With Christmas around the corner, we would like your help in supporting our ministry and future endeavors we will be participating in.
We have 3 different KGKL shirts (S-XL) that we are selling and the proceeds go to making our next relationship conference this coming May 2012.
Our KGKL Faith design comes in three colors: Black with teal lettering, Heather Charcoal with red lettering and Heather Denim with gray lettering. The front says KGKL KNOWGODKNOWLOVE and the back reads “WE LIVE BY FAITH NOT BY SIGHT 2 CORINTHIANS 5:7″
http://knowgodknowlove.bigcartel.com/
A big thank you to those of you who have already bought shirts.You guys are awesomeeee!!
KnowGodKnowLove presents..
“What should I get my peeps for Christmas?”
AOT "TEBOWING FOR GOD" SHIRT
Armor of Truth’s founder Ryan Malaluan mission is to touch the lives of the world, so they may all feel and receive the grace and love of God by arming them with the full armor of God. Armor of Truth is one of the hottest Christian apparel sites in Hawaii and is growing more day by day!
All apparel on the site represents Jesus and you can find brands by Armor of Truth, Sanctify and Not Of This World. You must check this site out!
Jessica Hoffman, Johan Khalilian, Sonya Balmores Chung at Love is a Circus: Photo. Mark Ramelb
Krinda Joy Carlson
“Love is the greatest show on earth,” declared Jessica Hoffman, founder of Pure Beauty Project and host of the non-profit’s first co-ed event, Love is a Circus, which was held downtown Honolulu the evening of December 5th. Know God. Know Love joined the event for the course of the evening as a support and a feature, with KGKL founder Josh De Gracia joining the panel discussion. Pure Beauty and KGKL often combine forces to further the message of purity and of pure love; Hoffman was one of the keynote speakers for KGKL’s Passion & Purity Conference, held February, 2011. December 5th found the forces together again; enter the circus…
The attendees of the event were invited to learn about this “show” in true circus style. An array of fair-food, complete with popcorn and a cotton candy machine, were offered as pictures were taken next to the stilts-wearing clown who was present. With lights all around, and hay strewn about, Cody Pregil, an 18 year old senior, explained, “It seems pretty cool here – the scene itself does. And the food was good!” A frequent attender of Pure Beauty events, Hannah Abbot echoed a similar sentiment on the vibe, “It’s a good environment.” The 17 year old, Abbot, explained how the topic matter and issues that the events tackle are not only relevant to her life, but also “inspiring.”
The message of Love is a Circus centered around, well, obviously love, but also the fact that love is wild, painful, exciting, dangerous, and a show to not only watch, but to join.
As the large crowd gathered for Love is a Circus, it was evident that this message was something that struck interest in many. Mason Allbritten, age 27, a volunteer at the event and long-time friend of Hoffman, said, “It’s encouraging to see that people are open and willing to a relationship that is godly and pure.” As he spun the cotton candy for hungry attendees, he explained how he’s shared a vision for love that is different from what is on the television shows and movies, one that involves “loving and respecting your significant other.” Allbritten insight was a prelude to what was to come.
After the food and fun, came the main act for the night, set on a stage under banners which mimicked the look of a Big-Top, while the attendees observed from the “audience.” If, in following true circus-fashion, the night were to have a brochure, it would have looked something like this:
Jessica interviewing the relationship panel. Pete, Joshua and Hugette. Photo: Mark Ramelb.
Joshua De Gracia, who was invited to join the panel a few weeks before the event, weighted in on the discussion of love. De Gracia was able to bring the message of KGKL forward, explaining that love involves a choice, not just emotions or feelings. Yes, love is a lot of things…
What exactly is love, then?
The answers that came throughout the night included that love is a choice, a sacrifice, butterflies, the reason to exist, and it is marked by a willingness to lay down ones life. It’s also a risk – as Sonya Balmores Chung highlighted, “None of us are immune to bad things…it’s like a circus out there, you get stampeded on by the elephants sometimes.” But, through the mess, often something beautiful comes. Johan Khalilian continued the discussion of the dangers of love, “Love is painful, it opens the heart to hurt…the price to pay is your heart.” He asked a very vital question everyone must present to themselves when standing on the platform, deciding whether to step onto the tightrope of love or not…
“Are we willing to pay the price to experience love?”
That’s where Love is a Circus brought the audience – to this one question. Because the love that the speakers, and Hoffman’s foundation Pure Beauty, champions is different from the conversation that we most often hear, which involves sex, warm-fuzzies, and seeking one’s own satisfaction; real love, PURE love, involves a risk and sacrifice; it involves putting the heart out in the open, and giving it to someone else; it, finally, involves knowing we were created to love and be loved by a God who IS love. Khalilian describes, “Love exists…not in the shallows, not in the safe places, but the place that’s dangerous and deep.” This love is “beautifully poetic,” he went on to describe, and, “our heart is yearning for this thing [called love].” So despite the cost we pay to enter the circus, the thrill of the flips and the satisfaction of throwing ourselves into the show is worth it – the price is worth it. Along the way, Hoffman reminds, “He [God] will make you beautiful in your time…He will make your love life beautiful in its time.”
The end of Love is a Circus does not mark the end of the discussion either. After ACT IV comes our ACT V, and ACT VII and on and on, because something that becomes beautiful with time keeps growing and developing. For Hoffman, she knows that continuing to reach women with the message of living whole and pure, and now to reach both genders with the message of a wild but beautifully-pure love is her purpose in life: “I feel so alive when I’m acting out what God put in my heart.” She claims she’s ready for the next event, even as Johan Khalilian prepares to speak on a cruise ship to men and women about relationships and love, and De Gracia begins the planning for KGKL’s next conference to be held in the spring of 2012. They all encourage people not to shy from love but to embrace and enter the ACT now: Khalilian – “The words and dedication it takes to make a relationship successful begins before you get in a relationship”; Hoffman – “Do everything in your power to reach a place in your heart so you can love to the fullest”; De Gracia – “We get to learn a lot now from other peoples experiences and with wisdom from God we can seek the best [love] relationship possible.”
If real love is the greatest show on earth, are you willing to pay the price to join the thrilling arena? One cannot fully answer this question without first learning how to be loved, and what better way to learn that than to seek out the God who claims to be LOVE itself (see the Bible, 1 John 4:8). Can you hear the conductor even now, within, calling out, “Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, step right up and…
JOIN THE CIRCUS!”
To also join us in the furthering discussion, see the following links:
www.knowgodknowlove.com
www.dfsmag.com
www.purebeautyproject.com
www.johanluis.com
*(NOTE: titles to speakers’ topics given by the author of the article to summarize the stories and points each individual covered)
Pure Beauty Project presents it’s first coed conference,
“LOVE is a CIRCUS” Monday, Dec 5th in Honolulu, Hawaii.
We’re thrilled to announce our dynamic guest speakers, JOHAN KHALILIAN: Model, Actor, International Speaker, who has appeared on Tyra Banks Show, Fox News in the Morning, and The Today Show.
SONYA BALMORES CHUNG: Surfer, Model and Actress who co-starred in Soul Surfer, Board Stories and The Decendants.
JESSICA HOFFMAN: Celebrity Hair and Makeup Artist, Model and Founder of Pure Beauty Project.
Tickets available this weekend on www.PureBeautyProject.com
Seating is limited, and the Circus is only in town for one day. So make sure you get your tickets soon!
Old Fashion Cotton Candy & Popcorn Machines, Circus Inspired Treats, Pupus catered by SOUTH SHORE GRILL, Picture Booths, Giveaways and Entertainment by AZURE will start off the night!
Please Invite friends and/or youth groups! This is open to the Public! So Pass it On!
Tickets: $20 Pre-Sale
$25 at Door
Please visit: www.PureBeautyProject.com and our Facebook Page!
This event if open to men and women, High School, College, Young Adults, with a focus on Singles.
Happy Thanksgiving from Team KGKL
Psalm 106:1
“Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever.”
This is my main thought for Thanksgiving.
“We are so blessed with what we have in life. However, we can sometimes be blinded by selfishness that we don’t see the true value of things in front of us.”
When we want, want, want, how can we truly appreciate the big and smaller blessings that God blessed us with.
Remember not to only give thanks on Thanksgiving, but give it everyday. Give it through the good times and bad. Constantly thank God for everything He’s given you.
