Reflections on 2006

As another year comes to a close, I wanted to take some time to reflect; I'm really into taking time to reflect, and it's pretty easy for me, as I'm naturally a reflective person.

In January, there was the first ever, 24 hour week of prayer, at the same location, in the city! This led up to the federal election and saw nearly 30 different churches participate and over 100 people came out to the final evening of intercessory worship. That was a wild night I'll never forget! The whole week was pretty amazing.
Also in January, I went with some friends to Lethbridge for the Rick Joyner conference, which was quite incredible. It was a bit tough getting used to the setting of 'the Miracle Channel' but I was very impacted by the two sessions that Rick Joyner spoke at.

In March I attended the Streams 101 course. This was quite a controversial course, as it stirred up a lot of thought and discussion amongst some of the faculty of Taylor Seminary. There was a lot of really good material, especially on development and importance of personal character as foundation for prophetic ministry. There was also quite a bit of material that needed to be supported more in its presentation. The teachers of the course, Syd and Cheryl Molliner stayed at our house and Syd spoke at the Canopy on Sunday morning. I marvel sometimes at the people that have come through The Canopy! I love it!

April saw Brad Jersak come for a weekend of 'in-house' meetings for The Canopy. I love Brad's teaching and our developing friendship. It was quite a bit of money for us to spend, but it was more than worth it. People were touched and encouraged and taught to hear the voice of Jesus.
April also was the month of the conference 'Israel and the church'. I was involved in the planning team for that conference, which we held at Central Baptist. Reuven Doran was the main speaker, and David Demian also spoke. It was quite significant. I believe that Israel is critical to the fulfillment of prophecy related to the 2nd coming of Jesus, and thus I want to take my stand in support of God's purposes in natural Israel!

May was the month when we had the Canopy's first marriage retreat. Bob and Audrey Carroll led that weekend; what a fantastic job they did! It was very significant for many. There were couples who spent most of the weekend fighting (and they needed to!) and others who came to some very important decisions about their relationship. (Some people ditched the sex talk in favor of a practicum on the subject!)

July came along and God opened the door for me to go to Kansas City for the annual pastors conference. It was a very refreshing time for me. I don't think words can really describe how much I am impacted by the House of Prayer in KC. Something gets stirred deep inside me when I'm there. I met with Noel Alexander, which was great. I also got to meet with Allan Hood, who is the director of the Bible school at IHOP. I still marvel at how God provided financially for me to go. (truly a supernatural story!)

In August our family went on vacation. It was our first stab at camping (made WAY easier by the use of Pam's parents trailer, which they set up for us in a local campground). We spent several days camping and going to the beach at the campsite. Pam said the highlight was enjoying how slow life became. I have to agree. After that we went to Calgary and spend several days doing day trips with the kids, both in Calgary and outside the city. Overall, one of the best vacations we've had.

October saw me run in the 'Fall Classic' road race. It was a 16k event, and I was very pleased with my time of 1:21:18! This year had been year where God has led me into running. It has become one of the most enjoyable parts of my life. I've connected with many people outside of The Canopy, many of whom are not Christians. This has been so much fun and also very healthy for me (both physically and emotionally and spiritually).
October also saw Pam get granted a permanent continual contract with Edmonton Public schools; something she has been working towards for several years. I'm so proud of her!

November seems like a long time ago, but really was only a few weeks ago. We saw Brad Jersak come back as we hosted a city wide conference with him and Geri Pauls. For me personally, this was very meaningful, as I really enjoy my friendship with Brad as well as Geri; Geri has be a spiritual 'mother' for me for many years and my time visiting with her was renewing to me. It's one of those strange things that I still encounter: I'm much more sensitive to my need for 'mother' figures in my life, since my own mother died in 2001. I still miss her.

Looking over that list, I realize that a lot of things happened in 2006. It also saw Nathan go on a 4 month leave from August - November; and it saw us continue to hold monthly editions of 24 hour prayer in the city. I got to know a lot of new and cool friends, both at The Canopy and outside. I've really enjoyed getting to know Chad Friesen, Conor McKeown, Randy Baker, Bruce M, Mina Patel, Angela Misner and many others.

I look back and see so many ways that Jesus has displayed his love for me. I am blessed in so many ways. Rebekah is just about to turn 7 and is enjoying grade 2; Josiah is growing so much and despite being the size of the grade 1's, he is only in pre-kindergarden at age 4! Both kids are fantastic and are God's gift to me and instrument to make me develop the fruit of the Spirit (i.e. patience!) in my life!! Pam is beyond description. She works so hard at school, swim coaching and being a mother and a wife. She keeps us all hopping and yet manages to pour so much of herself into the kids and I.

One of the most significant developments in my life this year has been a deepening reality that I love Jesus in the secret place of my life. There is so much to say on that topic, but I'll save it for another post!

Merry Christmas!

A question of goals

Yesterday I was reading an issue of "The Running Times", and an article about getting ready for the 2007 year of running. It talked about the critical need to set clear, challenging, yet realistic goals; goals that are measurable so you can clearly know whether you met them or not.

As I read, I began to wonder about how (or if) the principles applied to our own spiritual lives. I believe they do, but I also began to think about the application and relationship to our church community. At The Canopy, we have be uncomfortable with the idea of setting quantitative goals for our church. In some ways I really understand why this is the case. Here are a few reasons that have come to mind:
1) Most (if not all) of the 'specific, measurable, attainable' goals are going to be about numerical growth. How else do you measure progress? (and goals are certainly about progress!) We want things to be 'better' than they were the year before. Is that wrong? Virtually everybody would say NO!; but how you measure 'better' is quite a subjective thing.

2) Much of what happens/doesn't happen in a church is in God's hands; it's out of our control. (to which many would say 'praise God!'

3) When so many people are involved on a 'volunteer' level, it dramatically impacts how, when or if you can reach certain goals. Reaching the goals is largely determined by 'the many', not 'the few''; it really makes things more subject to what others do and don't do.

To me it seems much easier to set personal goals for yourself than it is to set goals for a community such as The Canopy. In a business, the CEO decides for everyone what the goals will be; and if you don't like those goals, you'll be out of a job! In a community like the church you can't do that. Why? Because it's a 'volunteer' based organization.

So I am left with the same question: "Can a community of people, like a church, effectively set meaningful goals in the same way as individuals and corporations?"

I'll write another post with my thoughts on that question, but for now, I'll say this: part of the obvious answer is to look at other charitable, volunteer based organizations; however, one of the key differences between a church and other similar organizations (please forgive me if you are offended or turned off by my use of that term) is how much agreement there is about the central purpose of the organization and in particular, what the 'metrics' are in evaluating 'progress'.

Food for thought!