Thursday, November 29, 2007

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!

Monday, November 26, 2007

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!

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

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

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

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)

Monday, November 05, 2007

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!

Thursday, November 01, 2007

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!