Why Benazir Bhutto's Death Matters

Just in case anyone reading this has had their head in the sand recently or has been away from any media over the holidays, Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan was assassinated yesterday.

Sadly the importance of this event will likely be lost on most Canadians.

So why does the death of Benazir Bhutto matter?

First, let me tell you a bit more of who she was:

She was the Prime Minister of Pakistan twice during the years of 1988-1996. While both her terms in office were brief and plagued with problems and numerous accusations, she was a leading voice for change in Pakistan. In her own words:

"I am a female political leaders fighting to bring modernity, communication, education and technology to Pakistan." May, 2007

Human history has been littered with the assassinations of numerous leaders, and people are dying and being killed every day in the world; what makes Bhutto's death any different?

Firstly because she was a leader fighting for major changes, including democracy, for Pakistan, which is a country fraught with religious and political extremists which causes continual instability.

Secondly, she was a woman leader, and in Pakistan, that is a BIG deal. She was the first woman to become the leader of a Muslim nation. There are very few women Presidents and Prime Ministers in the world in modern times, let alone in a Muslim country!

She was also surrounded by controversy and probably made many mistakes, but the fact that a Muslim woman who was educated at Oxford and Harvard, was able to rise up, stand for change and become the Prime Minister of a major Muslim nation such as Pakistan, is amazing.

The final reason why I think that Bhutto's death matters is this:

She knew what she believed in and was unashamed in voicing her beliefs, even in the face of continued threats against her life. In the end, those threats were realized and she paid for her beliefs with her life. In that sense, she was her own kind of extremist: she stood for and voiced opinions that were quite unpopular, that ran against the cultural grain of her country,in a non-violent fashion . She remained unwavering in her commitment to her belief in democracy and freedom.

Obviously the strongest people in the world are those who stand up for what they believe in, even against those who promote their own beliefs through violent intolerance.

I am inspired by people with such courage and I think that her death should matter to all of us.

Prince of Peace

At this time of year it's common to hear the name 'Prince of Peace' to describe Jesus.

Yesterday I was thinking about how important inner peace is in our lives... well, in my life! I was thinking about how much the enemy does to take away our peace and I got to realizing how important our inward peace must be. Far more important than most of us normally think.

Somehow I'm used to hearing people talk about how stressed out they are, how busy they are, and how worried and anxious they are. The result is that we end up living with an absence of peace in our lives!

Understanding that Jesus is the Prince of Peace, it's more than Jesus valuing peace or even bringing peace to the world; the question is more HOW Jesus brings peace to the earth.

Watchman Nee wrote that

When the Holy Spirit is working, He needs to be carried by the human spirit. The electricity in an electric bulb does not travel like lightening. It must be conducted through electric wires. If you want to use electricity you need an electric wire to bring it to you. In like manner, the Spirit of God employs the human spirit as His carrier, and through it He is brought to man.

How will Jesus, the Prince of Peace, bring peace to the earth? I believe that it will be through US as His people. It will not be independent of us, but through us.

Not only am I to be at peace for my own benefit, but also for the benefit of others around me. I am to be His means of bringing peace to earth! This is very powerful to realize!

Usually one of the stressful times of the day for me is right in the morning when I'm trying to get the kids off to school on time! There usually isn't very much peace in my life at that time, and it's the start of my day!

I've known this for a long time, but the way I handle things in the mornings has a direct impact on my kids and how their day will go at school. I felt yesterday and today that God was reminding me that He wants to use me to bring peace to their lives each day of the week. That's powerful! (it also feels like a pretty tall order sometimes!)

So I'm feeling challenged and inspired today.

Black out

Society loves to see people fall.

Today in papers around Canada and the U.S., stories tell the sentence given to Conrad Black and also to Michael Vick.

So here is some more various thoughts I've had as I read today's Journal:

1) I'm glad that the Conrad Black thing is over, simply because I just didn't care. I'm sure he's an arrogant guy, but I don't care whether he goes to jail very much.

2) Disgraced Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was sentenced to nearly 2 YEARS for his involvement in an illegal dog fighting operation. Look, I think what he did was wrong; he broke the law. I also like dogs but come on....lets get real! 2 YEARS for dog fights and cruelty to animals? There are drunk drivers who get WAY less of a sentence.... So let's see here: dog fighting or DRUNK DRIVING....which is more serious? If Vick deserves 2 years, then drunk drivers deserve a LOT stiffer a sentence than most of them get!

3) On the front page was a story of a young man who got a car insurance renewal notice for $104,000. He had 10 speeding tickets and 3 accidents on his record. Sure, nobody can afford that amount for insurance, but THAT'S THE POINT! The guy shouldn't be driving. AT ALL! The guy is 19 for crying out loud. Thankfully the young man is moving to B.C. At least I won't have to worry about being on the same road as the guy!

4) There's a crappy story about a retired school teacher who got trapped inside a toilet at a lawn bowling club for 4 DAYS!!! The door jammed and the handle fell off on the outside. He had no cell phone with him. I would have gone completely insane!


So not too many deep thoughts this time; sometimes it's nice to keep it on the lighter side of things!

wonderings

So yesterday was "tree day" in our house! When I arrived home after church, Rebekah and Josiah informed me that that it was tree day and it was my duty to go and get a Christmas tree. We usually get our tree from Save On Foods and this year, and I was really pumped at how the tree actually turned out. It's hard to get an idea of how it will look when its all bundled up at the store. But as you can see, we have a beautiful tree this year. We're all quite proud.

Yesterday was a pretty good day. After setting up the tree, I settled downstairs to cheer on the Patriots as they kicked some Steeler butt!



In the midst of it all there, here are some of my latest wonderings...

Why do psycho's like Willie Pickton always seem to quote the Bible? Is it just because Christianity is the foundational religion in the West? I suspect there's more to it than that!

Why did the shootings over the weekend not make Monday's Edmonton Journal? I know there are lots of shootings (sadly) but this was a man shooting 4 people at a YWAM missionary base outside Denver! Plus, the man escaped and is (was?) on the loose!

Why did it bother me so much this morning when the piano tuner came to our house and because I had forgotten about the appointment, the house was still a TOTAL disaster... why is my pride so strong that I wished that the floor boards would suddenly open up and swallow me up? (the good news was that I was highly motivated to clean feverishly while he was here!)

Whatever happened to the great moves of God in the 80's and 90's? In the 80's God established the Vineyard movement and in the 90's there was the renewal of the Holy Spirit that swept around the world. Those people who never liked them will delight in their essential disappearance, but what is God doing these days?

Why is God's activity these days so much more subtle and difficult to identify? Sure there is lots that God is doing, but not really anything on the scale of what He did in the 80's and 90's. At least not in my eyes.

What needs to be done to correct the pervasive notion in the church that it's God's job to make our lives work out all the time? Maybe we need more preaching on the book of Job!


I'm not particularly dwelling on any of these questions... they are more of a snapshot of some of the thoughts and internal dialogues that I've been having lately. Some are here today and gone tomorrow, while others seem to reappear every once in a while.

So that's what's new... for those who are wondering! :)

Tragedy in Denver

Word just came in that there was a terrible attack at the Denver YWAM, where a gunman went onto the missions base and started shooting people. At least 2 people are known dead and 2 are critically injured.

The reports are that a man came to the base seeking a place to stay, but when he was told that it wasn't possible because the base was already at maximum capacity, he started to shoot people. At this time, the gunman is still being sought by police.



Unbelievably, 12 hours later, (this morning!) a gunman went to New Life Church in Colorado and started shooting in the parking lot! Reports are currently that only the gunman was killed and that possibly 2 people were injured.

Police say that the 2 incidents are not connected.

Obviously there are more details that will be coming in the next few days, but as of right now, that's what we know.

I think it's very important for us to pray about these events and the people who are impacted by them.

What Happens in Vegas...

I'm currently watching an episode of CSI, which is one of my favorite TV shows. The fact that it takes place in Vegas motivated me to blog a bit more about my recent first visit to Las Vegas.


Las Vegas is primarily about gambling, drinking and sex. At least that's what I thought before I went there. Now I'd say it's more uniquely about gambling, entertainment shows and over the top hotels, and more commonly, about drinking, sex and shopping.


The hotel below is one of the best on the Strip and it's also one of my favorites: The Bellagio


This is the Wynn Hotel. It's arguably the best hotel in Vegas. It cost 2.7 billion to build, has 2700 rooms, an 111,000 sq. ft. casino and an 18 hole golf course.


Going to Vegas and thinking about the group that I'd be there with, I assumed that they would be reasonably into 'partying'. One of the main surprises about the trip was that I was wrong about the party dimension. They just weren't really a wild party group. There certainly isn't anything wrong with that; I mean, let's be honest: I'm definitely not a 'party person' myself!

I was also surprised that virtually none of the people in the group were particularly interested in running the Vegas marathon again next year. Usually in the hype and excitement of a trip cause people to say something along the lines of 'we HAVE to do this again next year!' It was just interesting because we all had a really great time, and we all ran really great times, so you would think that people would want to 'do it again next year'.

Despite that fact that, spiritually speaking, it is a very dark place, I still enjoyed it a lot. I really enjoyed the show that we went to, and I also loved looking at these incredible hotels. I loved running the race along the strip and being part of such a huge race. I only wish we'd been able to go to more shows and spend more time in the better hotels.

So would I go back again to Vegas? Yes I would. I hope to.

1:48:35

Well, I'm back from Las Vegas and running in the Vegas Half Marathon!
It was unlike anything I've been part of before!


It was a fantastic experience and I ran it in 1hr. 48min. 35sec. (my official chip time!) My previous best time was 1:57 for the half, so I took off about 9 minutes from my previous personal best time, so I am VERY happy with my time.

There were 8166 people who finished the half, and my overall place was 659th (529th among the men)




There were about about 20 people from our clinic who trained for the event, and I knew between 12-15 of them. (some were training for the walking half and full events, and others rarely came to the clinic runs)

The weather was pretty good on race day. I was a bit worried on Saturday when we arrived because it was very windy, but on Sunday, there was no wind.



I think that nearly everybody in our group was really pleased with their times in the race. It was too bad that because of the size of the race, we couldn't see most of our friends arrive across the finish line.

I'll have more to say on the whole experience soon, but for now, that's how the race went!

Lou Engle Rules!

I've been a fan of Lou Engle for a long time. I think he's great. Totally over the top. He's got a huge gift in the area of intercession. For the past several years he has led a ministry named 'The Call' and gathers thousands and thousands of young people from all of the United States in prayer.

The Lord spoke to him this year about relocating to Kansas City and joining in more directly with the International House of Prayer. He's been there for a while and is given a number of opportunities to speak at the missions base. Recently he told one of the funniest prayer stories I've heard in a long time and I simply had to grab a clip and post it here:





Great clip eh!

More seriously, the more I've listened to it, the more something gets stirred up in me. I want what he has!

Really! I mean, it's a very funny story, but there's a reality in prayer that's behind it, one that I simply HAVE to get a hold of.

Some might find it strange to be praying that way, but that's a direction of intensity in intercession that I want to pursue.

Lou's awesome!

Goin' to Vegas!

Well, I'm only a few days away from going to Las Vegas this weekend for the Vegas Half Marathon. I'm pretty excited. Everything is in place: tickets and passports!

Life's been a bit nuts in the running department lately:

1) I'm now the instructor for the Hypothermic Half marathon clinic at the SEC running room. Ironic, because I wasn't even planning on running the Hypo, let alone instructing a Hypo clinic! It started on Nov. 15, so there's this overlap between the end of the Vegas clinic and the beginning of the Hypo. We'll have to see how it goes.

2) This past Thursday was the Clear the Trails fun run down at Hawrelak Park. It was a 5 km. run. I ran it last year, so I was looking forward to it again this year. I honestly didn't think I'd do very well because I ran a different 5 km. fun run the night before, but I ended up running a personal best 23:41!! Plus, in laughable irony, I placed 3rd for male runners in the race! That's just crazy.

3) Pam and I leave on Saturday for Vegas. The race on Sunday will be incredible mainly in terms of the size: there will be about 10,000 people running in just the HALF marathon! (not to mention the FULL marathon) That's over 10 times larger than any other race I've been part of.

Today I'm off to another deep tissue massage therapy appointment, which promises to be very painful! My legs are pretty tight these days, so I definitely need the help to loosen up.

But I'm goin' to Vegas baby! Yahooo!

Mightier

The seas have lifted up, O LORD, the seas have lifted up their voice; the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.

Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea--the LORD on high is mighty.

Psalm 93:3-4

International media reported yesterday:

"The strong winds and high surf caused the Volgoneft-139 to split in two, spilling up 560,000 gallons of fuel oil. That is approximately 1,000 tons. In addition to the five ships that sank, many others were grounded, Russia Today reported. (Even after the main storm had subsided), twenty-foot waves and winds gusting to 78 mph were making the rescuers' task difficult."

If you cut and paste the the address below, you can see a brief video of the ship:

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/11/11/russia.spill/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

Bunches

Yesterday was an interesting day. At the end of it I realized that I had said 'No' 4 different times to various people. Why is this significant? Well, because I don't find it very easy to say 'No' to invitations and requests when it is in the realm of possibility for me to say 'Yes'. I just don't like to hurt people's feelings or disappoint them at all. (it happens enough as it is, despite my best attempts!) So I guess this makes me a 'people pleaser' doesn't it? Others will decide that I am in bondage to 'fear of man' and need deliverance! Well, who doesn't!

I was surprised though at the fact that it happened 4 times in 1 day. I realized that it had made me a bit tired. I think it's good for me though. Good to learn that it's okay to say no, even if sometimes people feel disappointed or hurt.

Al and I had a good chat today about the issue of guilt and doing things motivated by guilt. I found it enlightening. Al's always a great person to talk to!

In other news, today was interesting because a bunch of things happened at our house, all in the same day. We had our chimney swept and touched up; a guy came from Shaw cable to fix our internet connection; another guy came to prune our apple tree and nanking cherry bush; and finally, the city started mud-jacking our sidewalks to make them more even and less dangerous. All in one day! We never planned to have all this done on the same day; it just happened that way. Or did it?

Why is it that things have been happening in bunches?

Maybe I could have a day when bunches of people give me money!! (LOL)

Jesus will Reign

This weekend I was in Calgary for the OneThing regional conference.
In many ways it was amazing.

Today I've had some lyrics in my head from the worship set led by Justin Rizzo:

I believe heaven's coming down
and Jesus will reign on the earth

The chorus with those words has been in my head all day.

I can't express how deeply my spirit is desiring Jesus to reign on the earth! I will most gladly submit to His leadership. His government will be perfect and it will have no end. I am longing for the coming of Jesus!

The Spirit and the Bride say Come!

All Saints Day

Exactly 11 years ago today, I asked Pam to marry me. I specifically chose November 1 because it is All Saints Day (plus it would be easy to remember!)

It was a year very much like this one, with no snow on the ground and Pam and I walked along the path between Emily Murphy Park and Hawrylak Park. It was there, by the river that I asked Pam to marry me.

Today, exactly 11 years later, I felt like God gave us a little 'anniversary' present: God has blessed us with two beautiful children in Rebekah and Josiah. That was celebrated today by this classic picture on the front of the City section of the Edmonton Journal.


It's funny because we just happened to be at that house when the journal guy took the pictures last night, and I didn't connect at all with the fact that it would be published on Nov. 1! Yet when I awoke and saw the paper this morning, I sensed the Lord drawing my attention to the date.

Yah God!

Reviving the Soul

I've been enjoying Psalm 19 this week:

7 ¶ The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring for ever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.
10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
11 By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults.
13 Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression.
14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Lord give me living understanding. Give me wisdom and revelation and insight into the depth of your ways. Forgive me for when I have not esteemed your precepts and your ways.
I ask for light to come to my eyes that I would walk rightly; that I would be able to follow you and not stray from you, turning to the left or the right. Come and touch my heart and revive my soul through the power of your word.

Something I Saw

One of my Monday morning habits is to open up the paper to the culture section of the Edmonton Journal and look at the weekend box office movie report. I'm curious to see what the top films were and how much money they made. Meaningless information, I admit, but I'm a curious monkey!

This weekend the horror movie Saw IV came out and I was quite surprised this morning to see how well it did at the box office. The Saw movies come out each year at Halloween and this forth installment ran up an opening weekend of $32.1 million in the U.S and Canada. The franchise of movies have taken in a combined total of $165 million worldwide! This is truly staggering.

$32 million, despite being panned by virtually every reviewer around!

What grabbed my attention and made me laugh this morning was the quote in the Journal by Gitesh Pandya of Box Office Guru saying "Audiences have a very healthy appetite for this particular brand of horrr."

HELLO? LOL! While I understand what he's trying to say, the ironic word play is simply too much! How on earth can you have a 'healthy' appetite for torture horror movies? There is nothing remotely healthy about choosing to watch such things.

Anyhow, that's my ramble for today...

just something I Saw today in the paper!!

Not a Tribal Deity

I was feeling a little lethargic this afternoon in my spirit, and then I picked up John Piper's book "What Jesus Demands of the World" and started looking at it. As I was reading, I came upon the following quote:

Did He make demands on the whole world?

One may ask, did Jesus give all these demands to the world, or did he give them only to his disciples? Is this an ethic for the world or just for the followers of Jesus? The answer is: The demands he gave only to his disciples are also meant for the world because he demands all people everywhere to become his disciples. That is the point of his final command: 'Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you' (Matt. 28:19-20)

Jesus dares to lay claim to 'all nations' - all ethnic groups on the planet. NO exceptions. Jesus is not a tribal deity. All authority in the universe is his, and all creation owes its allegiance to him.

In the background Luke Wood is singing Kevin Prosch's classic refrain,

"He will come to us, like rain, spring rain...
He will come to us, like rain, spring rain..."

I felt that kind of spring rain on my spirit, as I read Piper's quote...

"He dares to lay claim... no exceptions...Jesus is not a tribal Deity"

So Amen Jesus. I will arise again and stir up my spirit to follow you again.
Come and lay hold of your claim to all of me. No exceptions Jesus. You are God and I gladly surrender to your leadership. Come and have all of me. My time, my money, my hopes, my dreams... all yours.
Come now to me like the spring rain. Cause your living water to flow inside my spirit!

If we ask, you will come
Send your rain on everyone
If we ask, you will come
Send your rain on everyone

So Lord we ask, for you to come
send you rain on everyone
So Lord we ask, for you to come
and send your rain on everyone

For every heart needs rain, spring rain
For every heart needs rain, spring rain

-Kevin Prosch

Reflections

This morning I spent time in John 4:1-42. As I read I wrote down some of my observations:

v. 6 Jesus was tired by the journey... I love that... sometimes I feel tired too!
v. 7 Despite being tired, Jesus saw the divine opportunity and responded to it.
v. 10 Do I know who it is that loves me today? Do I know who it is who is looking at the response of my heart?
v. 14 The promise of springs of living water on the inside... astounding!
v. 22 Salvation comes from the Jews... there is lots there.
v. 23 God desires worshipers
v. 34 'My food is to do the will of him who sent me' Jesus desired to obey
v. 35 Don't say 'four months from now'.... no excuses; no delays; the time for salvation is NOW
v. 40 'They urged him to stay...and he stayed 2 days'... link to v. 9 'Jews do not associate with Samaritans)
v. 43 Initial faith based on the testimony & faith of another; further, deeper faith when they hear and know Jesus themselves!


Here's a prayer I wrote afterward:

Today Jesus I want to know you personally again. I want to really know who you are. I NEED to know you. I want living water flowing like a stream inside me. I want to have life on the inside. Bring restoration. Come, make all things new. Come and make all things new! Cause my response to be to worship you in spirit and truth, and the desire of my heart will be to obey you so that I might now stray from you. And I will have boldness to testify and speak of you to others; no more excuses saying 'it's not the time'; let me find the strength that comes from doing what you want me to do...yes, out of the overflow of my heart I will speak!

Glenn Beck Rules!

I'm watching the Glenn Beck show on CNN right now. Great stuff!! Ha Ha Ha!
Seriously, it's very entertaining.

Tonight's show is entitled "Liberty in Peril". It's complete with dramatic music at the beginning and end of each segment of the show.

There was a great segment about the evil of free-trade (NAFTA). The humorous part of all this, is the idea that America would be in any way nervous about the economic impact of increased free trade with such comparatively small economies such as those of Canada and Mexico!

Now concern about the impact of India and China on the American economy makes more sense!

What I find so interesting is the idea that there is so much concern about the state of the nation. Is American liberty in peril?

As I pointed out in a previous post, CNN has a real habit of providing programing that is designed to stir up fear and unrest about the state of the nation.

For example:
"Planet in Peril" is on the screen virtually all the time, in every show.
or
"Liberty in Peril" with Glenn Beck!

I admit that the 'drama' of his program is one of the reasons that I watch it... but I do think that in many ways it does serve to undermine Americans faith in their own government and the safety, stability and future of their nation.

One of the major messages that is getting broadcast over and over again is essentially: "Our nation is screwed up! The government is inept, the planet is falling apart, our borders are not secure and the terrorists are more and more of a threat to us."

It's with a kind of morbid fascination that I watch these things! Entertaining on one level and yet disturbing on another.

"Liberty in Peril"!! Ha Ha.... that's a hot one! LOL!

Who comes up with this stuff?

Glenn Beck rules!

Wildfires and Drunken Elephants

I've been watching some of the coverage of the California wildfires that are going on right now. The numbers reflecting the impact are staggering:

1000 - 1400 homes destroyed
500,000 people evacuated
1200 square km burned.

It made me think back to the forest fires that burned hundred's of homes in Kelowna a few years ago. This summer when Pam and I were in Kelowna, we could still see the extent of those fires, especially from the middle of the lake.

A friend of mine actually saw those fires in a prophetic dream prior to when they actually started. I don't recall if there was a specific message related to the Kelowna fires (I'd have to ask him) but I remember how stunned I was when he told me about it.

I wonder if there is any prophetic significance to the California fires. I suppose there's lots of prophetic words out there by now! There is lots of recognition that climate change is certainly a factor, however I can't help but wonder what the Lord is saying in all of this. Not saying He's causing it necessarily (although I don't rule that out!) but in the midst of it, what is God saying?


One a slightly more humorous note, there was a new article today which I loved, about some Asian elephants that wandered into a village in India looking for food. What they found was large barrels of rice beer. The elephants drank so much of the rice beer that they become drunk (can you imagine how much beer that would take!!) The story actually turns tragic when one of the elephants stumbled up against a high voltage electric pole, knocked it over and got electrocuted; other elephants came to help and they too got electrocuted. (again, we're talking about a seriously high voltage pole!) Many other elephants in the herd ended up safe.

Here's an interesting thought: why do we (I) tend to look for prophetic significance in a large-scale serious event like the wildfires, but not so much in the initially humorous, turned tragic tale of drunken elephants in India? Obviously God can and does speak through all types of events, yet why do we look for it in the one, more often than the other?

Last night

Last night I had a dream. It was one of those dreams that was quite clear when you woke up but faded quickly and you're left with the main point.

In the dream, I heard the Lord say over me, "He is a brand plucked from the fire". Something really bad was about to happen to me and the Lord stopped it. I don't remember exactly what it was; I don't know if it was an action by satan or by God's angel, or even by men, but God stopped it. I have this strange sense that whatever it was, I deserved it. That's still pretty clear to me. But God said no.

Anyway, I woke up this morning with that phrase 'a brand plucked from the fire' totally in my head! I thought it was in the Bible, but I wasn't sure because the language seemed unfamiliar to me.

It turns out that it's from Zechariah 3:2, in the KJV or NKJV version. (I'm more used to reading the NIV, which explains why it was vaguely familiar).

I wish I knew more about this. It was so strongly from the Lord, and the phrase has been ringing in my mind ever since I woke.

Here is the verse in context, in the NKJV:

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him.
And the LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”
Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel.
Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.”
And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the LORD stood by.
Then the Angel of the LORD admonished Joshua, saying,
“Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘If you will walk in My ways, And if you will keep My command, Then you shall also judge My house, And likewise have charge of My courts; I will give you places to walk Among these who stand here.
¶ ‘Hear, O Joshua, the high priest, You and your companions who sit before you, For they are a wondrous sign; For behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the BRANCH.
For behold, the stone That I have laid before Joshua: Upon the stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave its inscription,’ Says the LORD of hosts, ‘And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
In that day,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘Everyone will invite his neighbor Under his vine and under his fig tree.’”
¶ Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep.

If you have any thoughts on all this, please post a comment!

One of the best

Last night I went with my friend Al to watch the 2nd half of the Monday night football game between the Colts and the Jags. It promised to be a pretty good match-up but the reality was that the Colts were totally in charge. We decided to ditch the game and go to a movie instead.

So we went to see Michael Clayton. We were sitting in the theater with the normal music and ads on the screen when suddenly the sound disappeared. We were left for a very long time sitting awkwardly in the room with several other people, in deafening silence. It was well past when the movie was supposed to start, so I decided to go and find somebody to get things going. The movie theaters are automated these days so nobody who worked there had realized things weren't working out. After several attempts to get things going we were still sitting in silence. After about 20 more minutes of waiting and listening to the mindless chatter of the bizarre couple in front of us, I voted that we leave.

I'm not normally like this, but I went and asked for the manager and told him that I thought we deserved some free passes for having to wait for nearly half and hour. He immediately agreed and suggested that we go back to the counter and get a refund while he got some passes. When he came back to give us the passes, he said that if we were still interested they had just got the movie started; it wasn't all that late, so we went back to watch the film.

If you're into really good drama movies, Michael Clayton is one of most enjoyable movies I've seen in a long time. Probably the best movie I've seen all year. Really. Other than some rather offensive dialogue at the start, it's very well written and well acted. The story seems a bit confusing at first but it quickly comes together and I thought it was a simply outstanding movie. Tom Wilkinson gives a totally amazing performance and I thought that Tilda Swinton was strong in her role as well.

You kind of need to like a John Grisham style movie, and I'd go so far as to say that Michael Clayton is a better story than most of Grisham's work.

I really liked this movie and most likely will happily see it again. As I've already said, it's simply one of the most best movies that I've seen this year.

Confidence

This is my confidence
This is my confidence
I'm living for another age
I'm living for another age!

The Problem with CNN

I am a sucker for American politics. I've always enjoyed politics (perhaps why I took Political Science as a minor in University) but as I've gotten older I've come to like politics even more. Especially American politics. Thus I regularly tune into CNN news. Part of their programing is talk shows, and investigative news shows etc.

The problem is that so many of these shows are not even close to being objective. Yes, I know... news is almost always biased. (just ask a few Canadians about CBC!) So maybe the bias might be to the left or to the right of the political spectrum but a LOT of CNN shows have a different bias: they SLAM the American government. ALL the time! Just watch Glenn Beck or Lou Dobbs (he's the worst) or even Wolf Blitzer.

They claim to be the 'most trusted name in news' but I think they're the 'most NEGATIVE name in news'!!

I'm not an American but I'm floored at how much cynicism and negativity they have in their own government. They regularly disparage George Bush and have 'guests' on their shows that do the same. Basically they think their own leaders, regardless of whether they are Republican or Democrats are totally incompetent.

Today there was an interesting twist in all this: Glenn Beck had this bizarre show where he was applauding President George Bush for making a much publicized reference to a possibly impending 3rd world war; the result of the current nuclear program that is being developed in Iran.

I like Glenn Beck. He's blunt and highly opinionated which makes for funny TV. (my favorite was his recent interview with John Hagee!!) He seems to know a lot, but "here's what I know" (ha ha):

It doesn't help to spread paranoia amongst the general populace of the United States about a possible situation that they can do absolutely nothing about. Paranoia is becoming epidemic in the excited States! People are worried about the lack of security at airports, the continual influx of illegal immigrants, and there is a continual focus on the inept government's inability to do anything about it.

So my basic point is that I think it is a HUGE problem to have this kind of negativity and cynicism toward the government continually broadcast to millions of people. The reality is that there simply isn't enough interesting news going on in the world to support a 24/7 TV news station; this inevitably must lead to such biased interpretations of the actual news.

This WILL have an increasing impact on the nation. It has to. As we look toward the 2008 Presidential campaign, you have to wonder how much impact it already will have!

I regularly wish I could contact these guys with an honest question of why they slam their own government so much. Like, why does't Lou Dobbs run for office, since he's got all the answers and thinks that the government are filled with idiots?

Don't get me wrong: I'm not speaking for or against the Bush administration. Here's what's going to happen, regardless of who wins the Whitehouse: these program hosts will continue to critique and slam the government.

So if you wonder whether I'm right on this or not, tune into CNN and watch Lou Dobbs, or Wolf Blitzer. Better yet, check out Glenn Beck, and have yourself some good entertainment!

Sitting in the Hallway

I went to pop in and visit my friend Al Seeman up at Vanguard College. When I arrived I discovered that he wasn't in his office. I thought of calling him but then I was suddenly struck by how quiet it was in the hallway. I couldn't hear a thing. I decided to sit down. It was amazing to me how quiet it was; we don't live in a quiet culture. There's noise everywhere! It gets to the point that we can't really feel comfortable in silence. We don't exactly know what to do.

So I'm sitting in the hallway thinking that I should probably leave and get on with other things, yet I simply couldn't quite leave! I actually got up a couple of times and then sat down again! I just wanted to be in the silence.

At one point I picked up a copy of the 'Voice of the Martyrs' newsletter. Inside the front page was quote from the founder of the ministry which really struck me:

Crowned with Jesus, you are free from the worry of calculating results. You quietly follow your impulses,knowing that the law of God is written in your new heart. You know that God is as much your Father as He was the Father of Jesus Christ, and that He cares for every detail of your life.

Pastor Richard Wurmbrand

Tomorrow I'm going to the 'Lead Like Jesus' seminar. There are a lot of excellent speakers, so I'm excited about that; but at the same time I'm apprehensive because so much of what I've gotten from these kinds of seminars is quite the opposite to the quote above. What I've come away with in the past from the 'Leadership Summit' type conferences is that results DO matter! After all there are people to reach for Christ!! Okay, that's true, and I DO care about that, but somehow it can become a trap. Somehow it can become a pressure that move us (or keeps us) out of spiritual rest. Hmmmm..... interesting choice of words I just made there.... spiritual rest...

Anyway, so what was the Lord saying to me today in the hallway? Throughout the day I've sensed a number of things God impressing on me, but in that moment I think He was wanting me to find Him more often in places and moments of silence.

These days many people like to quote Zephaniah 3:17, about God singing over them; I'm reminded of the part of that verse "He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love".

Sometimes my response to that is to wonder why exactly God would delight in me, but lately I've been trying not to figure that out, but learn how to enjoy it. I suspect that there's more 'rest' in that response.

So here's to God speaking to us in hallways! :)

Viewer Discretion Advised

There are lots of TV shows these days that have the 'viewer discretion advised' warning at start of every section. This warning comes not only at the beginning, but after each set of commercials when the show returns as well. But what about the commercials themselves? Why do there seem to be no standards for the commercials themselves?

Currently there are commercials running for the upcoming vampire horror movie '30 Days of Night', which unfortunately is set to hit movie theatres in the next few weeks. I don't normally get so bent out of shape by the previews for these movies, but I particularly dispise this movie!

After several scenes from the movies which have been selected to give views a taste of what the movie is like, the closing clip is of a young woman wandering around outside, terrified out of her mind, crying and saying 'O God', 'O God', 'O God'. Then a very nasty vampire creature appears in and says 'No God' and then the scene ends with the girl screaming her head off and then they cut to the title of the movie.

I have thought quite a bit about this clip and believe me it's NOT because I am interested in the movie. I think these movies are extremely demonic in nature and are some of the worst commentaries on the sad and deprived nature of our western society. Who dreams these things up anyway? Oh, I'd say some people who have large, long-term demonic oppresssion in their lives!!

I think that the selection of the 'No God' clip is not without spiritual significance. I happen to believe strongly in God and also in the devil and I also believe that this 'No God' clip is spiritual filth that is being spewed out across our natiion. It is a message that is being delievered thousands and thousands of times into homes all over North America. We need to get this straight: it IS a message and it is NOT about the movie; it's way bigger than the movie. This message is being repeated over and over and over again in all sorts of differenct mediums, in books and TV and movies and music.

Like I said, I'm not normally given to such severe reactions, but there is something spiritual about this preview that just sets my spirit wild with righteous indignation. Each time I've seen it, I've wanted to shout 'there IS a God' and 'God is GREAT', 'God is GOOD', 'God is LOVING', 'God is KIND'. I've wanted to shout it out to counteract this filth and this lie.

Finally, on a less spiritual note, WHY is such a movie preview allowed to be shown on TV in the first place? What about the 'viewer discretion advised' warnings? This short preview is, in my opinion, more disturbing and scarier than many of the TV shows that have the warnings attached to them. I realize that these warnings really do very little to actually dissuade anybody from changing the channel, but the point is simply why do there not seem to be the same standards for commercials as for TV shows?

I will look forward to the hopefully short life-span of this movie and pray that is fades quickly onto the forgotten shelves of some local video store, joining the pathetic list of other such movies that eventually nobody remembers and nobody watches anymore.

The sad reality is that most likely enough people will go to see the movie in the theatres that more such films will continue to be dreamed up and produced.

View discretion is STRONGLY advised!

Why Columbia U. Got it Wrong

This past Monday (Sept. 24) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke at Columbia University in New York. I happened to be watching CNN when it was happening live and heard the introduction by the President of Columbia. As the headlines in Tuesday's papers indicated, it was a scathing rebuke, which I found astonishingly blunt. It was simply incredible to watch. The TV news shows have not done justice to the full extent of his remarks, but in characteristic form, have chosen to zoom in on the most pointed quotes.

As I've reflected on it, I've become increasingly uncomfortable with what happened. Let me first say that I am NOT a supporter of Ahmadinejad, and find him to be one of the most disturbing world leaders today. That said, I think what Columbia did was BRUTAL. On the natural level of things, it was brutal, but on the spiritual level, it was simply stupid!

Columbia extended an invitation to Ahmadinejad; he did not ask for the platform. So for the President of Columbia U. to then proceed to tear a strip off an invited guest, whom HE invited, is in matter of fact, in extremely poor taste. It smacked of an attempt to save face in response to the huge uproar of protest that Columbia received for inviting Ahmadinejad in the first place.

What exactly did he think would be accomplished by such a public humiliation? Clearly Ahmadinejad was not going to change his mind, nor put his tail between his legs and run away. Did the President of Columbia U. really think it would do anything except provoke the man and likely cause many people in Iran to hate the United States more than they already do?

All the introduction accomplished was to humiliate a world leader on an international level and further polarize relations between the two nations.

On a spiritual plain, things are much worse. Now I don't expect the President of Columbia U. to operate in these terms, but from a Christian perspective, what he did was make matters worse. Thousands of people protested and hurled all sorts of verbal insults, spewing anger and hatred. The problem is that all this does is increase the anger and hatred in both countries and likely in other countries around the world.

Looking at this in the reality of Ephesians 6, the problem with what happened at Columbia U. comes into focus:

Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Eph. 6:11-12)

Ahmadinejad is not the problem. The spiritual forces of evil are the problem and they are working on BOTH sides of the issue. Thus, to publicly humiliate and insult a man such as Ahmadinejad, is neither helpful nor wise! It betrays a complete misunderstanding of what is really going on, which is that spiritual forces of evil are at work here! Creating a stage where massive amounts of anger and hatred are stirred up in people only serves to strengthen those evil forces.

Do I expect that the President of Columbia U. would operate from this paradigm? No, not unless he was a Christian.

Nevertheless, as I've reflected on these events, my spirit has grown more concerned over what I witnessed. We may now dismiss what happened, as it has faded from the headlines, however the damage has already been done and it is very real. There is no way that Ahmadinejad will forget what happened that day at Columbia University. It will now be more difficult than ever to more forward toward understanding and peace.

We often are tempted to speak words that are bold and brash, but very often such words create more problems in our lives than they solve. We may feel better in the short term, but in the long term the issues remain as strong as ever.

When Jesus was being led towards his crucifixion he was insulted and yelled at and spit upon. He was deliberately shamed over and over again and humiliated beyond imagination. Yet he remained silent towards those who attacked him. Indeed, the words he chose were a prayer, asking God to forgive them, because they did not understand the true significance of what they were saying and doing.

I pray that I will continue to learn from His example.

Servant of All

I want to be with you, where you are
O, I want to be with you, where you are
You're the servant of all

Cause I'm in love with a King who became a slave
And I'm in love with a God who is humble

And you've got to go down, if you want to go up
well you've got to go lower if you want to go higher and higher

And you've gotta hide and do it in secret, if you want to be seen by God

Cause it's the inside, outside, upside down Kingdom
where you lose to gain and you die to live

And I want to be with you where you are
O I want to be with you, where you are
Because you're the servant of all!

Misty Edwards
International House of Prayer

Too Busy!

There are days when I think I'm running around a little too fast....
Then I seem to forget my keys, or my phone, or something else...

After laughing at this picture, I feel a little better!

(I'm pretty sure it's photo-shopped, but still, it's funny!)

Restoration

Each year around the time of the 9/11 anniversary, I think about the year 2001. It was certainly one of the darkest years of my life: my mother died in June, my grandmother died in July and my other grandmother in December. It was a numbing series of events to be sure.

One of the more unfortunate memories I have of my mother was the fact that she smoked; the other was how much she berated her own physical appearance. I remember a point in my life when I saw a picture of her when she was young, before she got married and how struck I was by how different she looked. I realized then just how much the smoking had changed her physical appearance!

When Jesus was on the earth, I wonder how he saw the people he looked at? I wonder how much of people's destiny he saw? He walked in unbroken communion with the Holy Spirit, who communicated the thoughts, words and desires of His Father, so how did Jesus see people? Since the Father created us all, and knit us together, he knows the fullness of the potential that He placed within us. How much of that did Jesus see when he looked at the people around Him? Was it the difference between the reality of the people's lives versus the potential and destiny each person was created with, that moved Jesus:

"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." (Matt. 9:36)

For most of my childhood, I had no knowledge of what my mother looked like when she was a young woman. Yet at some point, when I saw who she was, who God created her to be (physically), I was impacted at how different she looked in the present.

The vast majority of the time when I find people irritating, I don't think about who they were created to be, and what wounds in their lives have led them to act and live the way they do now. I think the reason why Jesus had so much compassion for the people was because he saw difference between who they were created to be and who they presently were. I also think He understood like nobody else, the full extent of God's ability to change and transform. I think He was reminded all the time that what He would do on the cross would open the way to the healing and transformation that was needed in people's lives.

Today I was at Starbucks (big surprise!) and happened to overhear a conversation at the table next to me. I felt like the Spirit gave me an awareness of how unhappy this woman was. Not so much sad, as just unhappy with the world around her. At the same time, I began to have these thoughts about who she had been created to be and how different it was from who she is today.

Practically speaking, I felt God directing me to focus more on who people have been created to be more than on who they presently are. Perhaps then I will have more compassion for the people around me.

Our great hope is that Jesus has come to bring restoration. In this age we see a real measure of that restoration (indeed, we ourselves are to be agents of that restoration to people around us) and one day Jesus will make ALL things new!

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” (Rev. 21:4-5)

It's been a while

Holy cow has this month gone by fast!
seems like it was just yesterday that I was journaling about my fantastic travels with Al to Kansas City.
After that I was back in Edmonton for a week, which was taken up by the Leadership Summit, and then it was off for 2 weeks of holidays, which were very good.
So now it's back to normal life here in the city.

It's been interesting to see the rise in popularity of facebook and it makes me wonder about whether the 'fad' of personal blogs is fading? It seems that more and more people are interested in the brief time it takes to connect through facebook. Perhaps it's because it's more interactive and visual than most blogs. It also has neat applications, although many of those are just plain irritating.

It's taking some time to get back into the swing of things and I don't think we'll have much of a routine until school starts.

I've been thinking SO much about paradigm shifts in my own life, that God is stirring. Much of the rest of life is currently is a bit in the background right now, while God wrestles with me over these paradigm changes. I'm sure I'll be blogging about it eventually, in some form.

All this leads to life feeling like it's flying by at an unusual speed, and days and weeks go by and I'm not having as much time to write and reflect as I'd like.

Last night I felt God clearly stir in me this phrase: "Behold I make all things new" In a time of worship I found myself quietly singing that phrase over and over and over again. I knew that God was giving it to me but I wasn't sure where it was. Turns out it is Revelation 22:5 in the King James and NKJV and the RSV versions.

I felt it was God's promise to me. If you have the faith to believe that, it's very powerful. Huge actually.

These are days when God is moving in some significant ways and I feel the need to position myself in faith before Him.

"I make all things new."

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure: The Conclusion

We arrived home tonight (Monday) at about 6 p.m. Both Al and I were very tired and sensing that it had been a very powerful trip. So what is some of the fruit of it all?

I'd begin by looking at the hours I spent with Jesus each day; the amount of worship and the heart connect that was made wide in my life. The time in the Scriptures, praying them; especially 1 Timothy. (the concept of Christ's 'unlimited patience' being poured out touched me very deeply). There was peace and joy in my heart a great deal of the time I was in Kansas City, which is always evidence of the Holy Spirt's work; there was inner healing of wounds and disappointments with myself.

My heart for prayer and worship is larger and stronger; my own passion for Jesus has grown. So how was the trip? Judging by the fruit I'm experiencing in my life, it was fantastic!

As I said in an earlier post, I also am coming back to Edmonton, with an excitement to see what and participate in, what God has in store for our city!

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure Pt. VIII

It’s Monday morning and Al and I have been driving now for 14 hours! We just left Minot, ND, and we’re about an hour from the border. It’s been a fun time down here in the excited States! They sure do have some funny road signs and store fronts in the U.S., such as the ‘Micro-Incision Vasectomy Reversal’, with a ‘money-back guarantee’! or the ‘Rusty Chandelier Antiques’ or the ‘Shelton Fireworks’ sign with a slightly smaller ‘No Smoking’ sign underneath! Our personal favorite for the trip was the construction sign reading, “Hit Roadside Worker: Fine: $10,000”! Simply classic! We laughed for a long time about that one.

The night of driving was tiring, but quite awesome at the same time. At about 3 a.m. while Al was asleep, I was listening to some music from IHOP and the Lord met me powerfully as I drove down the interstate.
Here are some of the lyrics:

“Bring restoration
Bring restoration
You taken my pain
You’ve called me by a new name
You’ve taken my shame
And in it’s place, you give me joy.
You take my mourning and turn it into dancing
You take my sadness and turn it into joy
You take my weeping and turn into laughter

Chorus:
You bring restoration
You bring restoration to my soul

Bridge:
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
You’ve make all things new

As I drove down that dark interstate with that song playing, the Lord came and reached into me and brought a 2 month journey of healing to a new level of completion. It was incredibly powerful.

From about 4 -5 a.m. as we drove along, it was as if the Lord treated us to our own personal lightshow: all around in the distance we watched lightening strikes for nearly an hour, but we never drove through any of the storm!

At around 5:30 a.m. we cranked up the volume on this incredible live chorus from the cd, and we welcomed the dawn of a new day, joining in with 10,000 voices:
“I believe that you will come, like the rain”!!

It’s beyond amazing what the Holy Spirit can do with such a simple declaration!
Amen Lord! Let it be.

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure Pt. VII

So what does all of this mean for Edmonton? I could be dreaming of moving here to Kansas City! After all, I could sell my house in Edmonton, buy one here, pay it off fully and have a nice pile of money to spare! (houses here are super cheap compared to Edmonton!) If IHOP is so great, why not? Well, because my heart is in Edmonton! Because of what I believe God is wanting and preparing to do and release in Edmonton. I don’t know fully what it is, but I know that it involves night and day worship and intercession. What will that look like and when will it happen? I don’t know that either.

I will leave here tomorrow, refreshed and inspired again. Not toward a model, but toward a person! We HAVE to pursue the glory of God being released and manifest in Edmonton. We have to!

Please O God bring together the company of people in the city who hunger for this! I know they are there Lord; you have already stirred people. It’s time Lord. I come before you Father right now. I stand before your very throne and I come in the name of Jesus, through the power of the Spirit and I ask for you to bring together the people in Edmonton who hunger and thirst for you glory to be released in our city. Let you glory fall O God. Call others. Stir still more! According to 1 Timothy 1:14, I ask for the abundance of grace to be pour out upon these ones who you have stirred. I ask for you to pour out love and faith upon us and gather us together. And may we see your glory released in the city. Not just at a meeting Lord, but a release of glory that abides in our city and causes your Kingdom to come and your will to be done in Edmonton. The Spirit and the Bride say COME! Amen.

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure Pt. VI

How do I describe what it’s like to be here in the midst of a night and day prayer room? To be in a room on a Saturday afternoon with so many people sitting and reading their Bibles and praying to Jesus, and worshiping Him and expressing their voluntary love and devotion to Him moves me more than I can describe. It wasn’t in the midst of a big corporate meeting or conference; it was an average Saturday afternoon, with nothing out of the ordinary going on. No big worship leader or speaker or anything like that; the musicians weren’t all that extraordinary. That’s what is so great about IHOP! It’s not an event; it’s a way of life!

Right now, it’s 11 p.m. on Saturday night and there are about 100 people giving themselves to the Lord; some raising their hands; others standing, some reading their Bibles, others walking around praying.

What is drawing me in all this is the heart that I see and feel here. It’s not so much the form or the structure that touches me, but the reality of there being a community of people of such devotion. Not perfect devotion for sure; not by any means! (IHOP has lots of weaknesses) But there is a very deep expression of worship and love for Jesus, and it’s expressed continually, all night and all day, without end.

Okay, it happened again! It’s now 11:49 and just when things has kind of mellowed out a bit, another wave of the Spirit just rolled across the room. All across the room, people are now singing out “Jesus you’re alive and coming soon, coming soon!” That’s happens all the time: just when you think you can get ready to leave, another wave washes over you and you realize, “NO, I can’t leave now!” (now they’ve moved onto another spontaneous chorus “No matter what this world may say, the promise of your coming is near!” People standing all over the room!

This is like having your spirit marinating in the Presence of God. Simply amazing!

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure Pt. V

It’s 10:40 p.m. here on Saturday night and I’m in the newly refurbished prayer room at IHOP. Basically all the renovations were to facilitate the new partnership between IHOP and GOD TV. They have installed whole bunch of high-tech TV cameras as part of the new 24/7 broadcast of the IHOP prayer room. In some ways it feels quite different because of the production requirements related to such a broadcast.

Tonight Al and I were at the Encounter God service here at the Missions base. The worship was really good; I didn’t have the same level of personal experience as last night, but that’s fine. The preaching however, was OUT OF THIS WORLD! (am I holding back?) O MY! That’s all I can say. Allan Hood was speaking, having just returned from an 18-day trip all over Asia, strengthening the churches there, and meeting with various church leaders. He had fire on him tonight. Clearly inspired by the devotion and dedication of the believers in Korea and China, he shared of what he saw and the intensity and commitment of the thousands of Christians he was with.

We simply have so little idea of the significance of what we are doing when we gather to worship and pray! The power that is released and the response in the spiritual realm! He spoke with authority of the current shift that is happening in the church around the world.

Tonight after Allan’s message, we sang ONE song; for 45 minutes, and yet I was SO disappointed when we stopped! The Presence of God was very strong there and both Al and I were both pouring out our hearts in worship! (and I mean visibly!)

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure Pt. IV

Today is Saturday and sadly it's our last full day here :( However the trip has been entirely worth while, simply for what happened last night. Al and I went to the 'Encountering God' service and it was simply out of this world! I have to say that my reasons for saying that were quite specific to me; what God did for me in that time was amazing.

First off, the worship was quite something. The band started playing and to be honest it didn't seem like very many people were super engaged with the music; they played one song for about 5-6 minutes, which is quite a while for most churches (that I have been connected with!), but then rather than moving on because it seemed most people were not engaged, suddenly the room changed and virtually everybody was highly engaged! I mean something shifted, or so it seemed! Most places I'm used to would have moved on, but not here!

I think there were about 1000 people there, on a Friday night of all nights!

Al just made a good point: we've seen worship like that at conferences, where there is a high level of anticipation for the worship time, but we didn't experience that here. But what stood out for us was that unlike at a conference, there is worship happening here at IHOP NON-STOP! It's amazing that the people were SO into it in a place where there is SO much worship all the time! I feel like some people will relate to that sentence, but others won't. Just keep in mind that I come from a tradition where the older people complain about the repetition of worship songs and the average worship set on a Sunday morning was about 20 - 30 min. I've long since ditched that paradigm for worship, but it's still what I came out of!

Al and I were lost in the worship. It seemed like we'd only be there for 20 minutes and a full hour had gone by. When they brought up the pulpit in the middle of the last song, I wanted to cry out, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" (and that's saying something, cause I'm a preacher!)

On a more personal note, in the midst of the worship, God began to show me some very powerful things. It actually started before the service started, at the moment I got there and started to journal. Suddenly I began to see elements of my life over the past 2 months begin to come together. Discussions I've had, streams of thought and specific events, began to come together in my mind like pieces of jigsaw puzzle. It started out as some thoughts I was journaling about, but then in the midst of the worship I began to see things in my mind (again, elements of my life over the past 2 months) and I understood how God was fitting them together and what the ramifications were for the future. I recalled conversations and events and instantly knew why God was causing them to happen and what He wanted to teach me. I'd have one stream of thought in my mind, like a video in my mind, and then as I was reeling from it, another whole stream would start and I'd be overwhelmed by that as well. All this happening in the midst of a truly incredible worship set.

I could say way more, especially about the young man who came up to dance with some friends and was clearly lame in one leg! Unbelievably powerful.

Even the message was bizarre for me. It wasn't an overwhelming message at all, but as I watched and listend, Misty Edwards was a picture of a LOT of things that God was saying to me. It's like her delivery of the sermon was a living example in front of me of what God was saying to me.

Al was SO classic on the drive home. He couldn't complete a sentence! It would be like, "Okay, so.... yah...I don't know..." and then we'd laugh, and he'd try again, but it would be "Okay, well, remember when.....wow."
There was lots of conversation, but we both knew and appreciated how hard it was to put it all into language.

God had met with us. Ruined us yet again for ordinary Christianity, and captured us with a vision for more!

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure Pt. III

Day 2 (part II)

A funny thing happened when we arrived today.

As Al and I were driving into Kansas City, Al asked me a question about what I felt the 'best case scenario' would be for our time at IHOP. We talked about it and I basically said that I wasn't going with any big expectations or hopes or questions that I needed answers to. It was interesting to talk about whether it was good or bad to go on a trip like this without particular expectations. On the one hand, it sounds good to 'not have expectations', but on the other hand, it sounds problematic to not have any particular hopes.

Anyway, I then said to Al that pretty much the only way this trip could be bad was if we arrived to find that they had closed the prayer room (which obviously couldn't happen because it's a 24/7 prayer room that hasn't ever closed in 8 years!)

So today we arrive at the IHOP missions base and as we gathered our stuff together from the trunk, I expressed my surprise to Al at how few cars there were in the parking lot. There were about 40-50 cars. As we walked to the building, it appeared that they were doing some work to the main doors, and there were a couple of people who went in side door, so we followed suit.

We open the door to walk in and the entire place was a construction zone!! Dry wall all over; chairs everywhere....

Al and I stood there in stunned silence. It was amazing because of our conversation in the car, not because we were worried that they had closed the prayer room. Obviously they had moved it to another temporary location.

It's just so good to be here and great to be here with Al. He's loving it so much; Al is one of the funniest people I know and he's had so many great lines that made me laugh really hard, but just don't translate in a blog because the voice and facial expressions are missing, not to mention the specific context! He was great in the book store... like a kid on Christmas; he didn't know what to look at next! Classic!

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure Pt. II

Day 2

We arrived in Kansas City at about 9:30 p.m. last night. It may have been anticipation and adrenalin but for about the last 500 km, I was TOTALLY awake and alert. It was amazing.

Even our arrival in Kansas City as amazing because I took a wrong turn off the interstate but then we ended up taking a different road and going virtually directly to the hotel!

Today we woke up at 10 a.m. local time, so we both slept like the dead for about 9 hours. We got up and went directly to IHOP. When we arrived we discovered that the prayer room on the missions base had been moved, due to extensive construction that they are doing right now. So the prayer room has been temporarily moved to another building, which is where I am right now. I'm excited that they are supposed to finish the renovations while Al and I are here, so we will be able to see it when it's done!

Right now we're in the temporary location of the prayer room. I find it takes me a few hours to 'orient' myself to being here and for me to get to a place in my spirit where I can fully engage. It's like I have to get used to my surroundings or something; I can't quite explain it.

That's it for right now. I'll probably post more a bit later today.

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure Pt. I

Day 1

Well we got away from Edmonton several hours later than originally planned, leaving the city at about 3 p.m. Shortly into our epic journey we both knew we would be in trouble, as fatigue quickly set it. The crazy thing is that both of us, for completely separate reasons, only got 3 hours of sleep the night before; so off we go for a 28 hr. drive, on only 3 hours of sleep! Coca-Cola classic and Red Bull all the way baby!

At about 1:45 a.m. we successfully crossed the border. Given my level of exhaustion I struggled to successfully answer the border guards question about how long we would be staying in the States, and needed to ask Al for clarity! I was slightly concerned that my expired passport and AB drivers license would not have been sufficient, but all went smoothly.

It’s currently 3:46 a.m. and Al and I are hurtling down highway 85 in Montana. As we enter a small town called Alexander, Al lurches the car to the right to avoid the extremely large dead animal on the road. As we come into town we pass a motel called ‘The Ragged Butt Inn’! How classic is that! We decided from now on to stop and take pictures of these places because you simply can’t beat the ‘Ragged Butt Inn’

Al and I have been talking about issues of faith, spiritual authority and territorial spirits. Looking at the story of Jesus calming the storm, was the storm an attempt by the devil to prevent Jesus from going somewhere, or was it simply an act of nature? Is there far more going on spiritually around us, expressing itself in natural means, than we are consciously aware of? What does it mean for us to walk in the same authority that Jesus walked in? In Matt. 10, Christ gave the disciples the same authority as He had. Many of us would agree that according to the Scriptures we have the same authority, but practically speaking we don’t really know how to walk in that authority. And how does faith intersect with our ability/inability to walk in spiritual authority?

It’s now 5 a.m. and the sun is beginning to rise. We are looking forward to getting to the interstate where we can make up some time!

This morning I decided that extreme measures were needed: I would try to have one of those fancy coffees at Starbucks; one that has some much other stuff in it you hopefully couldn't really taste the coffee. I needed the caffine! WOW was it gross!! I gagged several times. It was awful! I have no idea how people can drink it... Luckily, Al liked it, so he finished it.

Is it a different day yet? I can’t tell. It’s 1:24 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon. Al and I are in South Dakota, about an hour from Sioux Falls. We’ve each had about 6 hours of sleep in the past two nights combined and we’ve been on the road for about 22 hours. We have been playing the cow game. (that’s when you see cows and be the first to say ‘those are my cows’ and then count them, keep track and the one with the most cows at the end of the trip wins) I’m at 220 cows and Al has 174. It’s a tight race. We’re at a rest stop now and I nearly fell asleep on the lawn. Wonderfully humid weather here. Zzzzzz…..

3:30 p.m. We just finished having lunch in Sioux Falls. We have about 5 - 5.5 hours to go to Kansas City.

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure!!

Tomorrow Al and I begin our epic journey to the International House of Prayer in Kansas City! We are very excited. The past two years I have been able to go to the pastors conference, but this year it just didn't work out. So I was very excited when this window of opportunity opened for me to drive there with Al.

This time I've decided to take my computer and use my blog to share what God is doing during this trip; so if you're interested in following the exciting adventures of Jim and Al, then keep checking back here for the updates!

People often ask me why I so enjoy going to IHOP. Honestly, when I walk into the House of Prayer, my spirit becomes at ease; I am at rest in my spirit; I feel like I've come home. I LOVE worship and intercession. I love listening to people pray and and love listening to people playing music and singing and interacting with the intercession. The spiritual atmosphere is different; you can feel it when you walk in the room. It's not an event; it's a way of life!

One night back in 1991, when I was in the youth group at McKernan Baptist Church, I heard an evangelist speak on the topic of prayer. He taught clearly that all the revivals in church history had been preceeded by a group of people praying fervently and passionately for the Holy Spirit to move in power. I don't know exactly what happened that night, but I know that at the end there was an invitation to anyone who wanted to dedicate their lives to prayer. I was up in the balcony of the church and I made a bee-line for the front and gave my life to the purposes of intercession.

Even since that night I have been calling people together to pray; hundreds of prayer meetings; trying to cast the vision of the power of prayer; seeking to instill a passion for intercession amoung as many as possible. This is the heart that God has given me and I've carried it ever since. So for me to be in the midst of a people who are giving themselves to prayer in such an extravagant way touches me on a very deep level.

For anybody who thinks that my dream is to copy what is happening in Kansas City, I would say this: NO, I don't want to simply copy a model; it's the heart of the people that I'm after. It's the level of anointing in the arena of worship and intercession; it's the degree of revelation from the Scriptures.

God is doing some amazing things here in Edmonton. We've been holding 24 hr. monthly prayer gatherings in the ciry for over 4 years now. There has been much spiritual opposition, so for Al and I, the opportunity to go to IHOP will be inpiring and renewing. I want to see God do new things here in Edmonton! I long to see God's vision for worship and intercession here in this city. l've lived here all my life and I love this city and I know God has more planned for us than we can ask or imagine!

Amen Lord! So be it!

I will follow

Back in the days when I was in youth group, people used to talk about 'dangerous prayers' and how you needed to be careful what you prayed for, because you might just get it! You know, prayers like 'God to come and take 'total ownership of my life' and stuff like that or 'Every area Jesus, I want to submit to you.'

I've prayed those prayers, but never really connected with the 'dangerous' part. Recently I've prayed those kinds of prayers and I guess I've decided that maybe they are dangerous after all. Painful even.

One of my favorite worship leaders is Matt Redman. One of his early albums to get noticed over here in North America was "The Friendship and the Fear". I have long felt it is one of the best worship cd's that has ever been made. I've wept more than once over many of the songs.

One of the songs is 'The Way of the Cross". I'm listening to it right now, meditating on it, including a few tears.

Here are some of the lyrics that are hitting me right now:

"Show me the way of the cross once again
Denying myself for the love that I've gained
Everything's You now, everything's changed
It's time you had my whole life
You can have it all

Yes, I resolve to give it all
Some things must die, some things must live
Not "what can I gain," but "what can I give"
If much is required when much is received
Then You can have my whole life
Jesus have it all"

Maybe my youth leaders were right. Maybe there are dangerous prayers.

So tonight I will trust you Lord Jesus.
I've not called you Lord for nothing.
I've asked you to come, and you have.
I've asked you to own all of me, and you are.

You will work all things for good, won't you Lord?

on Faith, Hope & Love

This past Sunday I spoke at The Canopy on God's invitation to become History Makers. For me it was a message all about faith hope and love and here's why: it takes real faith and hope to believe in any substantial way that we can be 'history makers'.

I didn't say this on Sunday, but all through the previous night and all that morning I was really struggling against a strong attack of depression type feelings. Lots of discouragement and temptations to give up. On Sunday morning I did not want to preach, and I wrestled hard with the irony of the fact that I was about to proclaim something that I have not had much success at living out recently. Where I was at on Sunday morning was emotionally quite different from what I was saying; yet I was able to speak it because I knew in my head that it was truth and that God was stirring inside me. So that's a bit of the internal war that was being waged.

I believe that this message is resisted and fought against a great deal by the enemy. The level of discouragement I felt on Saturday night and Sunday morning was certainly unusual and it was pretty easy to recognize, at least on a mental level, what was going on.

In recent weeks, I've been sensing the Lord beginning to stir some things in me again... some old things, old dreams, old longings. These stirrings are difficult because they require hope to be rekindled in my heart. There's always hope in me, because of the work of the Spirit (Rms. 15:13) but I've realized recently that there is different hope for different things. So God is stirring me to hope again in certain areas and for certain things.

Things like revival in our time, a great release of the Holy Spirit in my generation, God raising up The Canopy and awakening a deep passionate love for Jesus within The Canopy; hope for radical holiness, sacrificial giving, miracles, healings and large numbers of people being saved.

There's a lot of rhetoric around those ideas and they make a nice sermon and people cheer about them, but it takes something to hold those things in you heart. There's a cost involved. There's the pain of hope deferred. It's one thing to cheer on Sunday when those topics are mentioned, but it's entirely another to hold those things, in hope, in your heart for years and years. This is why Hebrews 11:2 is so huge for me right now: "This is what the ancients were commended for." That verse is just shouting at me these days! They were commended by GOD! Why? Because they held things in their hearts for years and years, decade after decade and still had hope and faith for them!

God is being very gracious to me. As Kevin Prosch sings, "He saw that I had missed the stirring of the waters" and He's helping me by bringing some healing to me and inviting me back to faith, hope and love.

When the song History Maker came out, I was gripped by it because it gave expression to a lot of what I hoped for. For several years I was impacted by that song. Then over time, it began to fade somewhat in my heart. Not entirely, but the burden of hope deferred wore it down somewhat. Now God is working on me afresh and I realize again my need for faith hope and love.

For anyone who wasn't able to be there on Sunday, I'm including a copy of the message I spoke. I preached the message because I believe that it's part of what God is doing within The Canopy right now. I feel that he is not only awakening hope and faith in me in a new way, but that He is wanting to do that (and is doing that) in The Canopy.

So if you're able to spend a few minutes, give it a listen. I've edited it down slightly, so it's about 42 min.

my neighborhood

Yesterday I found out that my neighbor across the street is moving. When he explained why, I understood. John works out of the city a lot of the time, so he was surprised to get a call at work a few weeks back from the manager at the Superstore wholesale place over on 99th Street, asking him to come and remove his trailor camper from the parking lot. John knew nothing of it! He found out that some yahoo's had hitched up his trailer from his back yard and taken it for a joy ride! Soon after that incident, his garage door was spray painted. All this, after having his truck broken into twice over the past 2 years.
We've had our cars broken into as well, with small items stolen, but nothing too serious. Plus the fact that my bike was stolen out of our back yard, all added up for my neighbor and his decision to move to Stettler. It's a good move for him. He's a single guy who likes the rural areas and he'll make over a $100,000 on the sale of his house, above and beyond what he's paid for a newer, bigger place in Stettler. I can't blame him, but I'm sad he's leaving. And I'm saddened by what is happening to my neighborhood.

Reality is, that there are a few 'party' houses right along my street. One is filled with youth all the time; yesterday in the afternoon there were 6 of them sitting outside drinking a bottle of JD's. There are a couple of others that probably are not really party houses, but let's just say that the people living there keep really wierd hours and there are small kids running about way too late at night.

All this, is, I suppose, part of the blessings of the economic boom and growth in Edmonton. I guess we're becoming more and more of a 'big city' and having to deal with all the problems associated with it.

Lots of bikes are stolen, cars broken into and stolen, houses robbed, all over the city, so for the most part I haven't really thought things were all that bad. The reality is that they probably are not all that bad.

It's just sobering to have your neighbor and friend leave the city because of this kind of stuff.

Some thoughts on Chris Benoit

Like many, I've kind of sat in a bit of a stunned state over the recent Chris Benoit murder suicide. I'm not a hard-core wrestling fan, but I've seen my fair share of WWE over the past few years. At first I simply didn't believe that he could have murdered his own son. I figured something else had happened, like his son died in a freak wrestling accident, and then Chris took his own life out of depression or something.

It was interesting to watch the tribute that the WWE ran on Monday night, which was before the details of what had happened were known yet. Was it right to run a tribute with all kinds of people saying amazing things about Chris Benoit, when it turns out that he killed his wife and son?

Does that change who Chris Benoit was? In the eyes of some it does. Today in the Journal, some fans stated that they have lost all respect for Chris. I understand why. I'm struggling with that very issue. However I'm actually thinking about the bigger picture and that for me is the WWE. I can't blame the WWE for what Chris did. He made his own choices. He chose to get involved in the WWE and use steroids. But it's also pretty clear that the WWE creates a culture that is quite destructive to many of the wrestlers involved. So can I support that? When we look at the Benoit tragedy, do we put all the blame on Chris, or does part of the responsibility lie with the WWE? I guess I think that the WWE will not change; that the industry will not change, certainly not as long as there remains such a large number of fans who 'consume' what the WWE is producing.

Thing is, I like watching wrestling. I find it a fun, mindless diversion from life. But if what I am enjoying is ultimately destructive to the lives of those directly involved (such as Chris B. and Eddie G.) then what does that mean?
As strange as this may sound, I'm not quite sure of the answer; at least not just yet.

The other big question in my mind right now is about whether or not what Chris did should change our respect of him. It seems pretty easy to judge him for what he did. Some would say, 'well, we don't know the pressures he faced' etc. etc. Does ANYTHING excuse killing your wife and son? Most would say no, but does one horrific act wipe out a person's reputation? Certainly it seems that way in the world of celebrity; look at Mel Gibson and others.
If we say that it does ruin his reputation, then are we 'judging' him? And is that wrong?

Just some of my questions right now....

David's tabernacle (pt. 1)

Well I've been stewing since Sunday about what was, in my estimation, a poor job of communication on a very important topic.

Last Sunday I spoke on Psalm 96 and the occassion it was written for: the beginning of the tabernacle of David. I muddied the waters by not speaking specifically enough on either the content of Psalm 96 or 1 Chron. 15-16.

Here's 3 summary points:

1) Psalm 96 was commissioned by David during the events recorded in 1 Chron. 15-16.
2) Psalm 96 speaks a lot about the spiritual warfare dimension of worship.
3) 1 Chron. 15-16 is the story of the establishment of the tabernacle of David.

I believe that God showed David the reality of worship in heaven, similar to what John recorded in Revelation 4-5.

David understood, from the Lord that he was to have singers, musicians and intercessors minister around the ark of the covenant. This dynamic was the central focus of the Tabernacle of David.

It is an earthly representation of the worship that happens around the throne of God.

We are not to try to recreate or copy the tablernacle, but rather learn from the 'elements' of the tabernacle. It is the spirit (meaning the dynamics) that are critical to us today: prayer, music, and singing, brought together with God's Word. I also realize that these elements are NOT any kind of 'magical' combination that God is waiting for us to use. He's not waiting for us to 'get it just right' and then he'll pour out his Spirit.

So why is any of this important?

In a word, because Jesus wants things 'on earth as it is in heaven'. I'm not pursuing these things because I want to get God's attention; I already HAVE his full attention!! I'm pursuing the dynamics of the tablernacle of David because I believe that the pattern of the worship in heaven is the ultimate, most pleasing, most God glorifying worship that could exist! (that's why it's happening in heaven!)

I'll leave it there for now, but these two passages of Scripture are very important in terms of what God is doing in raising up Houses of Prayer. I will have to post on that topic at another time, so keep watching!