A View from The Point

Change of Location

2009-07-28T00:16:00.004-06:00

A View from the Point has now been integrated into my website:

www.fragrantincense.ca

You can also follow me on Twitter (believe it or not!)

(click here)

Thanks

Colossians 3 Pt. 2

2009-03-10T19:56:00.003-06:00

In Pt. 1, I discussed Colossians 3:1-4 and the connection to Ephesians 1:17-19.

Here's the next section from Colossians 3:

5 ¶ Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.
7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.
8 ¶ But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language from your lips.
9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices
10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Again I am called to make a choice. A choice to refuse to be satisfied in anything except Christ; to not drink of any other well in order to numb the pain of life. Paul seems to make two lists or categories: the first appears to be the non-verbal and the second appears distinctly verbal. My personal thought is that the first produces the second. As we engage in the activities of the 'earthly nature', our speech patterns are dynamically affected.

The question becomes, how on earth can I possibly makes these choices? How can I on a daily basis rid myself of these things? Surely it can't be the power of my own discipline. I have realized that I simply cannot do it.

I made the point previously that wherever God gives an exhortation to do something, there is a corresponding grace available to us to enable us to obey. Here's what I mean: God is telling me to put to death the elements of the earthly nature in v. 5-8, and the key to being able to actually DO that is found in v. 1-2. (I also believe that a critical part of v. 1-2 is described in Eph. 1-17-19)

Another massive line of thinking is found in Col. 3:10. I'm a big revival and renewal guy. I love renewal. Mostly when we think of renewal we think of events like the Toronto Blessing. Believe me, I loved the renewal that came through the Blessing, and I pray that God would release a new installment of that, but Col. 3:10 speaks volumes to the renewal that is available to me on a DAILY basis.

Paul is saying this: I am spiritually renewed by the knowledge of who God is and what God is like.

In v. 10 I see Paul connecting back to v. 1-2. When I set my mind and heart on things above, where Christ is seated, my spirit will be touched and renewed, and the more I do it, the more renewal I will experience. Given that there's no limits to the 'things above', this could really go somewhere!!

In a sense, the dynamics of this verse remain a mystery. I don't get caught up in the 'how' of it, but rather I seek to take God at His word, that I will experience a spiritual renewal whenever I encounter the truth about what God is like.

One practical way that I have been doing that recently is by adding this verse to my prayer list and by turning it into a daily request. I connect it to v. 1-2 and bring those verses into the prayers as well. Then I can't help but go on to praying v. 5-10 too!

So those are a few more of my thoughts on Colossians 3.

Colossians 3 Pt. 1

2009-03-10T17:56:00.003-06:00

Recently our family has been attending Renaissance Community Church. Pam and I have been enjoying the teaching series that's currently going on which is on the book of Colossians.

I've been spending some time in Colossians and actually will be preaching at Renaissance on March 22 (in case anybody wants to come) :) I've decided to work towards being able to better articulate some of the thoughts and prayers I've had regarding Colossians 3 over the past while, so I'm going to begin here with a series of posts on that chapter. I'm doing this as a series of posts in order to break it up a bit and make it more readable (hopefully!). Again these are just some of my thoughts and things that I've felt God showing me in the Scriptures.

Here's the first part of the passage:

3:1 ¶ Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Now a few thoughts:

1) I guess the beginning for me was the sense of God inviting me to choose: to voluntarily choose to set both my mind and my heart of things above, where Christ is seated, rather than on the earthly things. Lately I have been actually speaking out loud my intention, my decision that today I will set my mind and my heart on things above; also that I will choose, by an act of my will, to put certain things to death and to rid myself of other things that are destined to perish. I declare my intention to obey, or as it says in Rev. 1:3, to read, hear and keep God's Word.

2) I've also been linking v. 1-2 with Eph. 1:17-19 because I believe that they go together. I think that one of the problems with the concept of continually setting our minds on things above where Christ is seated is the fact that we quickly run out of things to think about! I believe that this is what Paul had in mind when he prayed in Ephesians that God would give to us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus. He's praying that my mind would receive divine wisdom and revelation of what Jesus is like; and that the eyes of my heart would be enlightened. Paul prays that our hearts would be enlightened in 3 areas:

that we would know the hope that we have been called into (okay, there's oceans of thoughts on that one!)
that we would know the unbelievable riches of his inheritance in us!
that we would know the incomparable power that is at work in us (or is available to us)

So back to Colossians 3. I've been praying that God would answer the prayer of Eph. 1:17-19 in order that Colossians 3:1-2 would become a greater reality in my life. Certainly I am called to make deliberate choices in those verses, but I'm not left alone in those choices: God is at work in me to cooperate with my choices, to empower or enable my choices. Actually in truth, it's God who created the desire in me to make the choice in the first place, and then empowers me to actually do it... my part in this equation is very small and yet utterly essential at the same time.

3) A final thought surrounds v. 3-4. Certainly there is the main theology of death and resurrection being discussed, and yet as I've been praying it over, something else has been rolling around in my brain. It's hard to articulate, but here goes:

What if I don't really know who I am? What if my true identity, the fullness of who God created me to be is still a mystery to me? Could that be part of what Paul is saying when he declares that my life is 'now hidden with Christ in God'? Certainly I died and, as Graham Kendrick sings, 'the life that I now live no longer is my own', yet how much do I grasp about all that I have been created to be and do? God alone knows the depth and the riches of who we have been created to be and only in the resurrection, as we live forever with God (on a redeemed, transformed earth, I might add!) will we be fully known. Could it be that part of our redemption through the cross is a redemption not only of our relationship with God but also all of our redemptive potential that was lost through sin; the fullness of all that God has in his heart for us when he created us.

I pray that will appear with Christ in glory!

The Light of the World

2009-03-05T11:32:00.002-07:00

This morning I was praying and towards the end of the time I was specifically praying for my friends grandfather who has cancer.

As I was praying I found myself beginning to pray for light to enter his body and that the light of Christ would shine upon him and fill him. Suddenly my mind went to the end of Revelation where it says that there will be no need for the sun because God will provide the light.

The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its light.
Rev. 21:23

They wil not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.
Rev. 22:5

I've always seen references to 'light' as being purely spiritual and separate from physical light. In that way I've separated the physical realm from the spiritual realm. For instance, how will the light of God be able to provide what is needed for the process of photosynthesis? Our planet would very quickly perish without the light of the sun.

As this was in my head, it was then that I went to Rev. 21:23. I believe that I have had a false distinction between the spiritual and the physical. In this age there is some clear distinctions, but in the age to come, it seems that those distinctions will no longer be there.

Given that Heaven and earth will become one, then the physical processes of the earth that require the light of the sun must continue in some way. I don't believe that the physical laws of science that have been put in place will suddenly be done away with.

I also looked at 1 Tim. 6:16 where it says that God dwells in unapproachable light. What is this light? If it is of a kind that will sustain the physical earth (even the new, transformed earth) will it not provide healing as well? Somehow what we now know of as physical elements will have spiritual properties as well. Look at the fact that the leaves from the tree of life will be used for the healing of the nations (Rev. 22:2).

Of course, all of this depends to a certain extend on my interpretation of Revelation and the fact that I take things somewhat literally (not entirely literally I should add: i.e. I don't think that there is a literal dragons tail that will sweep a third of the stars out of the sky (Rev. 12:4)... given that the stars are billions and billions of miles apart from us). Thus some may not believe that there are literal physical leaves being spoken of...

So this is becoming more complex than I intended; however coming back to Rev. 22:5, it seems fairly straightforward that God's light will actually replace the role of the sun. This to me implies a very powerful connection between the physical and the spiritual.. the light is more than just spiritual; it is a physical light that will accomplish physical things.

What then does this potentially mean in terms of our comprehension of what Jesus meant when he said he is the 'light of the world'?

Something to chew on....

Oh Chief Ramsey

2009-02-21T12:38:00.005-07:00

Today I was startled to read in the Edmonton Journal that one of my favorite Chinese food kiosks in West Edmonton Mall had been fined $12000 for sanitation and cockroach problems.

The article describes a scene of food being stored on the floor, raw meat soaking in stagnant water and cockroaches scurrying around the kitchen.

Where is Chief Ramsey and one of his profanity filled tyraids when we need him!!

The place makes some of the best ginger beef around, but now the thought of it makes my stomach turn. Who knows what it's been thawing in or where! Then I start wondering if it really is 'beef' in the first place. (enter Eric's favorite name for a Chinese restaurant here)

I've read stories like this before, but it's never been about a place that I eat at with reasonable regularity (no that doesn't make it worse, it just makes me want to blog about it!!)

Clearly this kind of problem is all too prevalent in the restaurant business, as indicated not only by the existence of food inspectors but the ability to Chief Ramsey to devote an entire TV show to cleaning up different restaurants with similar problems.

In all seriousness, I don't think I'll ever be eating at the Szechuan Chinese Food kiosk again. (it's in phase 3 of WEM, beside the Dairy Queen... lest you confuse it with one of the other 2 large chinese food kiosks in the same food court!!)

I guess I'll be eating more Greek and Italian food there from now on!

Here's to coakroaches and....

scratch that...

here's to a large BEER!

Peripheral Vision

2009-02-17T21:39:00.005-07:00

Tonight I decided to go down to Kinsman to work out. Pam bought me a month pass for Christmas, so I'm diligently trying to use it! Most of the time I go in the morning, but today was totally booked up so I thought I'd go in the evening.

I will NOT be doing that again. It was packed. When I first got there the parking lot was so full that I assumed a special event was going on. I had to park in the overflow lot. (which is actually better because it's closer to the main entrance than the further away spots in the normal lot)

I'd planned on doing some weight training but immediately recognized that my plans needed to change as there were simply way too many people in the weight room. I decided to ride the bike and go for a brief jog.

As is my custom, I ended with some time in the sauna, but it too was quite full which wasn't all bad but I just don't like being too near other sweaty people.

This leads to the point of all this: later, as I was leaving the shower area, out of the corner of my eye something bizarre caught my peripheral vision. My head shot to the left only to have my visual senses assaulted by this very large naked man standing on a scale, who was extremely tanned and had the most nasty tan lines..... well I'll let your imagination figure it out....

Damn!

What on earth was this guy thinking? BTW, he wasn't at all 'buff-in-the-stuff', so it's not like... oh never mind.

Have you ever noticed that in locker rooms it's the older people who seem to wander around in the 'all together'? Pam says it's the same way in the women's change room too. I've enjoyed this month long pass to Kinsman, but I have to say that I've definitely had my fill of male nudity!

Most of the time I am very thankful that I have very good vision.... most of the time!

Short

2009-02-14T11:53:00.003-07:00

This morning as I was doing some work around the house an old song came into my head:

'Soon and very soon, I am going to see the King

soon and very soon, I am going to see the King

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, I am going to see the King'.

Believe me, I have not had opportunity to sing that song or even hear it, anywhere in a very long time, so it certainly struck me as odd that this old chorus would come into my head. (as strange a head as I may have!!) Very quickly I recognized the evidence of the Spirit in all this and began to pray around it all.

Not to worry! I am not speaking of my imminent demise; I sensed God remind me of how short life is in the light of eternity and that this is only a brief internship in this age. The Spirit whispered to me an encouragement and reminder of the worthiness of devoting my life to pursuing God.

Show me O Lord, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life.
Ps. 39:4

'Soon and very soon, I am going to see the King
soon and very soon, I am going to see the King
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, I am going to see the King'.

Songs of Deliverance

2009-02-13T10:00:00.003-07:00

I've been really enjoying Psalm 32 for the past few days. There's just so much there to feed the prayer life!

Nearly half of the Psalm is about confession of sin, and while I've been engaged in that there have also been some other things that God was highlighting to me:

1) praying that my spirit would be cleansed of all deceit (v. 2). Not only do I need to be forgiven (v.1) but I need to have all manner of deceit driven out of my spirit. This prayer is a new addition to my prayer list.

2) praying for a return to the hiding place (v.7) or as I've called in earlier blogs, 'the secret place'.

3) I've been focusing a lot on being surrounded with 'songs of deliverance' (v.7). Each day I have been coming back to this and in the morning asking God to surround me with songs of deliverance. There has been a distinct touch from God in praying this. The other day as I prayed around this, I suddenly found myself beginning to sing my prayers. This went on at length (one of the joys of being home alone!!) as I prayed and worshipped God.

V. 7 is a fantastic verse to pray for others as well; praying that God would surround them with songs of deliverance.

One final note from my prayer time today: Today is the day that the Lord has made. In the midst of prayer I found myself making declarations about the goodness of the day, speaking against the fears and curses that surround (however humorously) 'Friday the 13th'.

May today be a day of blessing and goodness, and not fear and evil.

May the Lord surround each of us with songs of deliverance today!

New Connections

2009-02-10T11:50:00.002-07:00

I was at the city prayer gathering today and Jeremiah Abel read out from Eph. 5:13-20. A couple of verses stood out to me as I listened and then read it over in my Bible:

15 Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise,
16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,
20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ

The passage in verse 18 is a long time favorite because it speaks of being continually filled with the Spirit. As I read on I was struck by v. 20 and the call to always be giving thanks to God, because just yesterday I felt the Lord speaking to me about the great need I have to grow in thankfulness. This morning as I read these verses I sensed God showing me that the two things are very much connected: Being filled with the Spirit and living a life of continual thankfulness.

I am very often a 'cup half empty' type of person. Translated more bluntly, I think that means I'm an unthankful person. I'm just not very good at it (there I go again!)

I usually have thought about being filled with the Spirit in different terms than being continually thankful. Yet the apostle Paul seems to mention the need for thankfulness over and over again (i.e. Col. 2:17 & 1 Thess. 5:18)

I realize that I have some real stereotypes in my head surrounding exhortations to thankfulness and that I need to purge myself of.

That will be quite a process, but for now I'll just say 'thanks' to God for showing me some new connections about being filled with the Spirit.

Standing

2009-02-06T09:09:00.002-07:00

Last night I had the image in my mind (not a vision) to me being in a shelter and then making the choice to walk outside of the shelter wearing only a pair of shorts. When I did so, dozens of birds suddenly descended on me and furiously pecked at me; they didn't kill me but I was a bloody mess when they were done, as I attempted to crawl back to the shelter.

For me this is a spiritual picture of my choosing to leave the secret place and not having any covering (such as the armor of God).
I do so at my own peril. I've done it before and yet somehow do it again. Such decisions defy logic and reason.

the end.

IHOP intercession - Cory Russell

2009-02-05T22:01:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

Cory Russell prays for San Francisco at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City

Feeling like Crap

2009-02-03T17:38:00.002-07:00

Today my wife feels like crap. She had a couple of students drop out of one of her classes and she feels like it's her fault; now she's feeling terrible about herself as a teacher (as if she needed to feel like that more often!!)

I can't stand the pressure that the schools put on teachers to pump out kids with great grades. There's so much pressure on teachers... what about the STUDENTS? In my day, if you got lousy grades it was your own bloody fault. The teacher might be a dud (and I had some, let me tell you) but if I got 55% as a final mark, it was MY responsibility.

Today... NOOOO!!!! It's the responsibility of the teachers to make sure that little Mikey get a good grade. We wouldn't want him to fail, even if he skips lots of classes and doesn't even turn in assignments, because we don't want to bruise his precious self esteem.

Today if you want to be able to teach the top level subjects you have to be turn out students who get honors... no matter what. Otherwise it's on your head and you feel like a lousy teacher.

I'm tired of watching my wife work her ass off week after week, working hours and hours making exams and marking and creating assignments only to end up feeling like crap because little mary jane hardly does any work in class and then wonders why she's not getting honors!

I don't think that kids are simply entitled to get good grades; and I don't think that we should expect that every kid is going to get great grades. I was lousy at math in school. I got really average grades in math and guess what: I didn't snivel about it and blame it on my teacher. I'm not good at math. Plain and simple. Not everybody is good at math!

So here's a novel idea: let's evaluate teachers through observing their classes and factoring in ALL the student evaluations, rather than simply looking at the specific grades themselves. Let's have some balance between responsibility on the teacher AND responsibility on the students.

Maybe then we'll have less days like today.

Obama

2009-01-20T20:38:00.002-07:00

How could today go by without a blog post on the swearing in of Barak Obama as President?

I'll say up front that I'm pretty impressed by Obama and think he's going to be able to be an agent of new direction in the States.
(so any negative comments about Obama, such as accusations that's he a muslim or the antichrist, will NOT be published on this blog so don't even bother)

What has struck me about Obama winning the election is the power of hope. I think that what will be agent of change in America will not be Obama's decisions as much as the new found sense of hope and optimism that so many Americans feel. So in a sense, change already has come to America (to coin Obama's catch phrase).

It's interesting how things affect us. You can see it when the weather changes and becomes warm, or when the amount a daylight begins to increase. People respond to these things and usually become more positive about life.

I'm not saying that Obama's decisions don't matter; of course they will. What I am saying is that perhaps some of the most important impact has already been seen. Some will argue that the mood of the American people will most certainly change; George Bush's approval was great after 9/11, but has sunk to historic lows. There will indeed be some downward shifts in public opinion for Obama. No question about that.

Obama has a charm and charisma that, in my opinion, George Bush lacked. Obama has a relational manner about him that puts people at ease. Some find this alarming, but the majority of people resonate with it and respond positively, as evidenced by today's events.

For the sake of the America and indeed the entire world, I hope very much that Obama is successful in being able to bring change to the States, both domestically and abroad.

I wish him well.

Ponderings & Comparisons

2009-01-19T22:09:00.004-07:00

This weekend was interesting.

On Saturday night Pam and I went out for dinner and then to a movie:

We drove to the theatre where we drove around for a while in search of a parking spot amidst the numerous cars. Then we went inside and found a seat (okay, I DID stand in line for popcorn!), and sat in a large room filled with a lot of people. When we took our seats we said hello to someone that Pam knew who was sitting in front of us. We enjoyed the movie and when it was over we put on our coats and walked out and back to our car and drove home.

On Sunday morning Pam and I went to church:

We drove to the church where we drove around for a while in search of a parking spot amidst the numerous cars. Then we went inside and found a seat (no popcorn available!), and sat in a large room filled with a lot of people. When we took our seats we said hello to some people that we knew who were sitting around us. We enjoyed the service and when it was over we put on our coats and walked out and back to our car and drove home.

While the point I'm making is obvious, the entire weekend experience has left me pondering many things:
(note: in no way am I being critical of the church that we went to. this commentary is more a personal one about my own state of being)

1) I wrestle with feeling that I am now a 'consumer' of a church experience. Was the church service just some kind of religious entertainment that I consumed in much the same manner as the movie?

2) Is this the way that most people experience church? It's quite a new position to be in and not one that I'm particularly enjoying.

3) How much of church services are designed to simply get people in the doors? Meaning, do we cater to this consumer mentality? I'm not so naive as to believe that this wasn't the situation at The Canopy. No, the same stuff was happening, but wow is it a wake-up call to experience it this way! Yuk!!

4) I know that we're on the fringe of this church. We're not involved or invested in it. We've got a great small group but it's from The Canopy, so it's totally separate. I'm not leading or serving in any way. So I'm on the fringe and it's a really hard place to be. I'm left feeling like some kind of spiritual leech.

5) It's hard right now to get excited about going to church. This is a totally new experience for me. I'm suddenly making mental evaluations about the service, the kids ministry, the service time, the available parking, and of all things the sermon, etc. etc. As I'm having all these thoughts in my head, suddenly the other side of my brain kicks in and says, "What the hell are you thinking? What's wrong with you?" Having spent the last 10 years of my life working in a church and strongly disliking such consumeristic mindsets, I am amazingly finding myself on the other side of the fence! (and clearly NOT liking it)

Well I think that's enough for now. I could keeping going, but these posts really shouldn't go on and on...

At this point all I have is some observations of my own experience but no real idea what exactly they mean.

More musings later!

Well...

2009-01-15T17:33:00.006-07:00

Well a few people have emailed some thoughts about the previous post on 'you troubler of Israel'.

Strangely enough I've been distracted by other things and haven't had much time to think and pray on it. (how's that for sad!!)

Yesterday was quite a hard day for me. Beth and I spend the entire day cleaning up the remnant of stuff at The Canopy and it was the last time we would ever be in that space. It's funny that spaces are so important. People today love to say how the church isn't a building; I understand what they are saying, but the reality for me right now is that the physical space known to most people as 'The Canopy' has been very important to me. Lots of memories.... good memories... mostly.

Today I will give in my pass-card and key. There's nothing there anymore. Just memories. I can take those with me.

I don't want to sugarcoat the memory of The Canopy. The last couple of years have been hard. Really hard. And towards the end it was quite painful. That pain is over now, but a new kind of pain, a mourning has taken its place. I'll take the mourning though, as it will, in time pass.

Jesus do you really comfort those who mourn?

God, will you really turn my mourning into dancing?

Lord, will you really bring restoration to my soul?

a thought in my brain

2009-01-14T00:07:00.004-07:00

Tonight as I was coming home from a very good conversation with a friend of mine, a phrase came into my head: "you troubler of Israel".

I was pretty sure it was from the life of Elijah the prophet and I just looked it up and sure enough, it is:

So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the LORD’s commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”
1 Kings 18:16-21

The conversation with my friend was a powerful God conversation and I left with my spirit quite stirred. As I travelled home I felt there were some things God was bringing together which I won't go into here, but it was in that context that the phrase 'you troubler of Israel' came to my mind.

There is much to process in all of this...

It's time

2009-01-13T17:54:00.007-07:00

Well it's time to get back to the world of blogging.

I took a break for the past while because I simply couldn't think of anything to blog about. Certainly there was lots to say and I was not lacking in thoughts and questions, but most of them were too private and personal for the internet! (I like blogs but I'm still a fairly private person and utterly refuse to allow this blog to be some sort of public journal for anybody to peer at... obviously there is a 'journal' dimension to any blog, but I do have my limits)

On that note, here is a bit of a 'journal style' blog update:

I am now unemployed and spend much of today applying for work.

The last 2 weeks have still been filled with many Canopy things: as with the death of a family member, so too it is with the death of a church community. There are all sorts of things to be cleaned up and details to be seen to and loose ends to be tied up. It's a process that seems to prolong the pain of death, but that's just part of life.

This Thursday will, in all likelihood, be the final day of it all for me. I will have removed all my belongings, cleaned up the last bits and turned in my key. That will be hard. There will be a finality to closing the door for the last time that I am sure will hit me.

This past weekend our small group went out of town together for good time away. It was a lot of fun, (although I'm still trying to remove the mothball smell from my clothes...LOL) On Sunday we had a 'cleaning bee' at The Canopy, which also was really good. So its felt a lot like things are still continuing, even though they are not.

It's strange getting up in the morning and not rushing off to the church or meeting with people in the day. Today I spent down in my new 'study' at home and didn't talk to anyone. I had lunch alone. I drank tea, applied for jobs and enjoyed the warmth of my space heater in my study.

I've applied for employment insurance, but there's a 6-8 week processing period. Hopefully I'll have something figured out by then...

I think I'll leave it there for now, but hopefully I'll get back into blogging and be able to share some of my other, more normal kind of thoughts.

Leaning

2008-12-20T00:36:00.002-07:00

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?

My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng.

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and
my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you...

Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.

By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me--a prayer to the God of my life.

I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?”

My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.

Psalm 42

Mondays

2008-10-27T10:51:00.003-06:00

I like Mondays. Sunday is over and a new week is beginning. There aren't too many pressures on Mondays (they come later on in the week).

I'm a person who likes to reflect a lot on life and Mondays are my day to do that. I usually take time to write in my journal while enjoying a cup of tea. Today it's more likely going to be over a cup of hot chocolate because I have a couple of free drinks coming to me at Starbucks and so I feel the need to get the most expensive drink I can!

My friend Chad gave me a jar of honey about a month ago. It was really good but now I'm sad because all the honey is gone. I wonder if this is the season for honey? I fear that not every season is a season for honey. But is that really true? What about the figs? What point was Jesus making when he became upset that there were no figs on the tree, despite it not being the season for figs? I think that there should be honey available year round!

And where do you go to get honey? Would it not be in the same isle as oil? Sure, you can get go and grab a jar of honey in most stores, but I don't just want any ol' honey! I want the really good stuff! (shun-dy) You can't just run around the corner and get the really good stuff.

I seem to go through phases. Sometimes I'm in a honey phase and there's nothing better than a good peanut butter and honey sandwich! You eat one and then you want another, but by the time you eat the second one, you kind of realize that your eyes might be bigger than your stomach. That's the problem with honey: it always leaves you wanting more. Discontentedly content!

But then I go through a phase where I'm not quite as into the honey as I was before. Never sure what causes the switch. However, all it takes is for me to have another PB&H and I remember all over again how good the honey really is!

Did you know that a colony of bees will eat between 100 and 120 pounds of honey in a single year? Looking at that from a weight ratio perspective, those bees are consuming several times their own weight in honey! They're really drinkin' in the honey!!

Anyway, it seems I'm out of honey. Chad says he'll get me some more. In the meantime I'll reflect a bit longer about where the honey has gone and what can be done about it. I know that honey needs to be cultivated. Maybe I should be a bee. Then I'd be swirlin' in the honey! (but then bees are dying off at a very alarming rate, so maybe being a bee wouldn't be the best thing right now! say that 5 times in a row!!)

Well, I'm off to Chapters for my drink. I'm not sure now if I'll end up having the hot chocolate or not. I might get my Earl Grey tea.... I always put a generous helping of honey in my tea!
:)

slow

2008-10-24T10:57:00.004-06:00

Do you ever have a day where you're just moving slow?
Some days it's physical, some days it's not.
Today is one of those days...

Anyway, so I'm working on message for this coming Sunday about God and loneliness.

We actually entitled it 'God and being alone', but as I've come closer to the message I realize that was the wrong title. It's about loneliness and that's different than 'being along' It's a challenging topic. (okay, so the entire series is challenging!)

We're surrounded by people a lot of the time and yet so many people feel lonely. It's a longing for deeper relationships, in a facebook world that excels at shallow ones. It's like we've become so mistrusting of people and society in general, that it is becoming more and more difficult to actually have deep meaningful friendships.

Take blogs for instance (since you're reading one!):
Some people use them as public diaries, and simply spew unfiltered thoughts onto the world-wide web for anyone to see. On one level I understand the attraction. There is a desire to vent one's spleen on a regular basis. Many times I have wanted to blog but I simply have not had anything appropriate to blog about! (especially as a pastor, one has to be careful about what one writes in public forums) The problem with using blogs for deeply personal stuff is that there's no discretion being used in terms of who you are venting to. It's like you're trying to share your life with others but from a safe, often anonymous distance.

I've been doing some interesting reading about how people are exploring links between loneliness and issues like depression and addiction. One author wrote that we have bred a generation of isolation. We keep the people around us at a distance. "Never let them see you sweat", right? Remember that TV ad?

A friend of mine was commenting on how many people think that 'nobody understands me', and how in his mind, this is a load of crap. It may well be a load, but the point underlying it seems to be a longing people have to be understood.

There's little point in decrying the evils of technology that are facilitating our own isolation tendencies. We're social people, so we will inevitably be drawn into social settings. The problem is that we seem to be losing our abilities to socialize in meaningful ways. Increasingly people struggle to be truly vulnerable with any close friends, or even to have close friends.

The unfortunate part of human relationships is that it's inevitable that we're going to get hurt from time to time. Each time we do it often makes it more difficult for us in the future because we don't want to get hurt again.

The result in a loneliness that is pervasive in our society.

So that's about it for now.

Too Good

2008-10-15T15:00:00.006-06:00

My friend Al shared a book with me called "This Beautiful Mess" by Rick McKinley who is the pastor of the immensely popular church Imago Dei, in Portland Oregon. It's a big church now but he writes about the humble beginnings in the following quote. It's set in a larger context, but for right now, I'll just include the story.

For obvious reasons, I think this is a fantastic quote and I laughed very hard when I read it.

I am a church planter, which simply means that I started my church. At Imago Dei Community, we started from nothing and have grown to a decent-sized little church. You know what makes a church planter depressed on a Monday morning? Low attendance or a low offering the day before. If the poor pastor happens to get hit by both, he may need to be put on suicide watch.

For the person attending a young church, the perspective is different. Let's say that person is you. This week you decided to go to church. But come Sunday, you decide not to. You have a birthday party to deal with. Or a relative to visit. A bunch of friends are going snowboarding. Real life stuff. Anyway, you think your church decision is yours to make, and no one else really cares.

But someone-the pastor- cares, and I am sad to admit it's not always about your spiritual well-being, though that concern is down there somewhere. Nickels and noses. Levels. That's what makes or breaks Sundays for most people starting a church.
I remember one Sunday when we were first starting out. We only had about thirty people. We met on Sunday evenings in a Baptist church that was kind enough to rend us space cheap. That particular Sunday also happened to be the seventh game of the NBA championship, and Portland was playing LA for the title. As you can guess, I was in for a kick in the groin.

We sat in a darkened room with candles lit. Seemed like an artistic, atmospheric thing to do. But when I stood up to preach to twelve young women who didn't care if Portland won or lost or that Portland even has an NBA team, it felt more like a funeral for a bunch of sorority sisters whose cat had been hit by a car.

That night we slid from thirty to twelve, and even though rationally I could tell you why our turnout was low, my heart was reeling. Here I was, trying to jump to the next attendance level, and our church had slid. A 60 percent drop in one week. Where was God? What did I do wrong? Why were we both failing?

I love the story, but I also love the title of the book, 'This Beautiful Mess'. The church is a mess. It's easy to write off local churches; there are a million and one different reasons... some reasonable, others not.

However, it's refreshing to hear someone like McKinley express the tension: the church is a mess, but it still is beautiful.

Talking Snakes

2008-10-03T22:20:00.003-06:00

Today a new movie hits theaters called 'Religulous'. It's a 'documentary', or more correctly a 'mockumentary' on organized religion starring everyone's favorite sarcastic comedian Bill Maher. I have not seen this movie and have no real interest in seeing it, however as I read the review in the Edmonton Journal today, I was irritated enough to blog about it.

According to the review, Maher's main goal in the movie is to create doubt in people about the foundations of religion, obviously in context of sarcastic attempts at humor. One summary of the movie says "Religulous describes religious ideas, beliefs, or claims that are patently absurd, comical, or ridiculous"

One of his main issues focuses around the Genesis narrative of the garden of Eden and the presence of a talking snake, which seems to Maher to be a classic example of the ridiculous nature of religion.

While the movie is a 'comedy' of sorts, seeing a trailer for it was enough to get my undies in a bunch because it makes clear that the film does have more serious undertones. With that in mind, I offer some of my own thoughts on the 'talking snake' narrative:

1) The presence of a talking snake is not the central idea or purpose of the passage, and to focus on it is to miss the entire theological thought that is being developed.

2) What is being developed is the theological truth that God is the one who sets the terms in His relationship to humans. We don't get to set the terms. We may not like it, but that's simply the way it is. Deal with it.

3) Another major point is that of choice. While God sets the terms, he allows us choice in terms of how we respond.

4) The last major point I'll mention is that we humans don't get the change the consequences later on. Again, we may not like the terms, but God sets them and we don't get to change them. Period.

Why is this so significant? Quite simply because these same principles apply in the matter of salvation through Christ. God has set the terms for salvation: Jesus Christ alone. No other name. We don't get to set the terms. We do however get to choose how we respond to those terms. Free will. Finally, we don't get to change the consequences later on. People can be as angry about them as they like, but that doesn't change the fact: God sets the terms and we don't get to change them. Period.

Those are some really major theological premises and to trivialize the narrative of the garden by focusing on how 'ridiculous' we find the idea of a talking snake, simply reveals a complete ignorance of the purpose of the story.

Anyway, it feels better to get that off my chest; certainly my undies feel better! So that's my theological rambling for today. The end.

Time

2008-10-03T13:05:00.002-06:00

Time is one of those subjects that I just can't get my mind around. Specifically time management.

I'm looking at the assortment of books that I have on my desk, the majority of which are ones that are there because I really want to read them. Or do I? Somehow they sit there and I keep allowing myself to do other things: some things are urgent and thus I'm caught up in the 'tyranny of the urgent'; other times I'm just getting caught up in other activities. Reading is something I have to make time for; it doesn't just naturally happen (much to the horror of my wife, who is a book-aholic).

Have you ever wondered what it means to honestly like something and want to do it, yet somehow it doesn't actually happen in your life? Some would argue that it means it's not a value in your life. One the one hand I understand that, but on the other, I know what it is to really want to do something, but not get around to it, so I'm hesitant to dogmatically say 'it's not a real value'.

I think everybody has areas like that in life. For some it's exercise, for others it's scrap-booking, for others it's going to church or praying, or like me, it's reading.

Last night I didn't sleep very well at all. I've often thought about how much time we spend sleeping, and how much more we could do and experience if we didn't need to sleep. Think of all the reading I could do if I didn't need to sleep.

Strictly Business Pt. II

2008-09-29T17:19:00.004-06:00

Many years ago, as I was studying 1 Thessalonians 2:8 the Lord spoke to me the following phrase: 'Whom you would change, you must first love'.

You can see in Scripture that Paul was passionately committed to helping people to grow in spiritual maturity (change) and seeing churches grow up into the 'fullness of Christ'. His first letter to the Corinthian church clearly shows how much that congregation needed to learn and grow into related to the gospel of Christ. In short, there was a lot of change needed in the people of Corinth and the apostle knew it.

There isn't a day that goes by that I am not confronted with some area of my life that needs change, as I seek to live a life that is worthy of the Lord (1 Thess. 2:12).

Some would argue that we don't bring about change; God brings about change. Okay. I agree. However, we are very often his agents of change in this world. Quite clearly Paul sought to teach and instruct in order to bring about change. "We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ." (Col. 1:28) That's change folks!

I'm not saying that loving people is separate or distinct from helping to lead them toward change; the problem is that often when change does not occur then discouragement and frustration with can be stirred up, either towards ourselves or others we are working with.

I believe it was about this reality that the Lord was speaking to me about when I sensed him say, 'Whom you would change, you must first love'.

So the first priority needs to be on love for people and then the priority of being an agent of change (in this case meaning spiritual maturity). It's a matter of having things in the right order. When they are not in the right order, then it can lead to discouragement and frustration.

Another aspect of all this that I find very challenging is applying this to myself! I am remarkably good at getting all this mixed up when it comes to myself. I am often frustrated and discouraged with myself and the areas of my life that need to be brought into alignment with Christ. The idea of 'loving myself' can feel at odds with Biblical ideas of self-sacrifice and self-denial, but that is not the case. We must have a healthy and appropriate love for ourselves.

By this point, I've strayed off course from my original intent with the post 'strictly business'. That point was that it's very risky to love people because you often end up getting hurt. That's why I find Paul's words, 'we loved you so much that...' in 1 Thess. 1:8 to be so amazing.

It's easier to relate to people on a 'strictly business' level. It's less messy and lower risk, but it is NOT what God calls us to.

Strictly Business

2008-09-29T12:35:00.007-06:00

There's a great line from one of my favorite movies, The Godfather: "It's not personal, it's strictly business'. It's a powerful line about not allowing personal sentiment and emotion to influence sound judgement. It sounds good, but often it's hard to do.

In stark contrast to that is a statement the apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonian church:

We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.
1 Thess. 2:8

It's a little warm and fuzzy for me, but the point is clear: for Paul, it was personal!

It's an incredible statement to me. Think of all the churches that Paul travelled to and was involved with; think of how busy he was; think about how radically committed he was, not only to the introductory message of the gospel of salvation, but also to seeing the church grow into spiritual maturity!

That phrase, 'we loved you so much...' is a huge challenge to actually live out. When it is, you end up with deep and powerful community, but you also take some real risks because your heart is on the line. It's the very thing that Michael Corleone, in The Godfather, was working to avoid.

As a Christian, I am compelled to strive to follow Paul's example. It's an incredible goal to pursue and one that continually challenges me.

Near & Far

2008-09-22T18:25:00.005-06:00

Like many people throughout history I wonder why God often feels near by and yet far away. There are times in prayer and worship when I sense the Presence of God quite clearly and times when I sense His voice and direction. And yet there are other times when I feel very much alone and wonder where exactly God is at. There are circumstances that I pray about and very little seems to change; there are issues where His direction seems shrouded in mystery.

There are times when I feel God leading the way and dynamically at work in my life and yet there are others when it feels like God has gone on vacation or put his MSN/ichat on 'Be right back'!

This has been the experience of multitudes throughout church history, including King David and the other Psalmists. Certainly that is why so many of the Psalms bring comfort in such challenging times.

All this has led me to recent meditation on Psalm 43

2You are God my stronghold. Why have you rejected me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?
3 Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.
4 Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God.
5 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.

Previously in Psalm 42 (which traditionally is considered the first half of Ps. 43), the Psalmist asks "Why have you forgotten me?" (v. 9). Then is Ps. 43:2, he says that he feels that he has been rejected by God and oppressed by the enemy. He cries out for the Lord to cause His light to shine and His truth to guide him, and asks God to lead Him to His holy mountain, which is a reference to God's Presence (it's also a clear reference to the House of Prayer, but hey, that's for another post!).

The Psalm is concluded with a confident assertion that the Psalmist will experience God's nearness and will respond with joy and delight and worship. He ends with a recurring statement to stop feeling sorry for himself and remember to trust in God.

I love the Psalms because they're so dramatic. Some might say melodramatic! I'm a melodramatic kind of person, so I connect very easily with statements of feeling rejected by God and then turning around and stating that God is my joy and delight!

So which is it? Is God near or is He far? I believe that the answer is that we experience Him as both near and far. It's not at all satisfying an answer, but given the testimony of Scripture itself, that has been the experience of countless people and seems to be the way God chooses to reveal Himself!

Some people have become so tired of this kind of roller coaster experience of faith that they have chosen to get off the ride entirely. While I understand that temptation, I am 'haunted' by the reality expressed in Psalm 42:7

7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.
8 By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me--a prayer to the God of my life.

It's that experience which causes me to continually pursue God...when He feels near and even when He feels far.

No Other Name

2008-09-20T01:29:00.005-06:00

I'm here at House of Prayer Edmonton. It's 1:30 a.m. and as I've been praying I sensed the Spirit speak to me about the power of the name of Jesus.

Consider the following verses:

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth
Php. 2:10

Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.
Acts 4:12

Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name--the name you gave me...
John 17:11

It is no wonder that the name of Jesus has been made to be a curse word that is on the lips of multiplied thousands in Edmonton and around the world.

How amazing that Jesus would pray and ask for the Father's hand of protection over the disciples through the power of His name! That the name of Jesus would push back and destroy the devil's work and result in protection over the hearts and minds of people... Incredible!

Of course I'm not saying that the name of Jesus is some kind of magical formula... nothing could be further from the truth!

But there IS power in the name of Jesus; the man Christ Jesus; the lamb of God who was slain and who purchased men for God!

Jesus, you are the King of Kings and your name is the highest and the best. You are Savior and Lord and I love you!

Lately

2008-09-18T09:39:00.003-06:00

Lately I've been getting back into the fall routine of life with Pam and the kids. Pam's coaching the swim team again and the kids are in sports again and I'm still running quite a bit. It all makes for a busy schedule and a lot of laundry!

Lately I've been trying some different things in my spiritual walk with God and it's going pretty well, but I'm also discovering that God is responding by causing a lot of internal issues to bubble up to the surface. Thus at times it feels like life has become more difficult than before, and yet I don't desire to go back; I must press through and into new things God has for me.

Lately I've been praying in tongues quite more than ever before. Not hours a day or anything; more like just daily. It works well in the car because you can't analyze too much about it when you're driving.

Lately I've found myself noticing motorcycles more than ever before. Perhaps that's because my friend Eric is now a 'biker'. Regardless, I'm also finding that I can't stand all those really loud obnoxious motorcycles that are on the road. Some of them are deafeningly loud. Perhaps that makes me sound old.

Lately I've been thinking that less is more.

Lately I've been wanting less than more.

Lately I've been finding that time flies by and I wish I had more of it. What would I do if I had more time? Why am I not doing those things now?

Lately I've been reading a book to the kids that I really enjoyed when I was a kid. It's been fun to read the story again; it comes back to me as I read it, but I can't remember what's going to happen next, so it's kind of even better than the first times I read it!

Lately I've been trying to be more organized, but not finding as much success as I would like.

Lately.... well, I'd better go now or I'll be late

I Can't Stand Lou Dobbs!!

2008-09-08T17:01:00.003-06:00

Tonight Lou Dobbs began an 'Independent Convention', which follows the Democratic and Republican conventions. (it sounds far more grandiose than it actually is. In reality it's Dobbs normal show with a studio audience of average Americans that never actually get to take part in the 'convention'!)

Amazingly, this bonehead gets paid to promote his opinions on CNN!

Here is my big beef with Lou Dobbs: he continually insults the American federal government and says how stupid everyone in government is, yet REFUSES to step up to the plate at actually DO anything. He won't run for any public office where he could actually try to fix all the problems he seems to have all the answers to.

I'm not saying that there are no problems in American government, but Dobbs just sits on his high horse at CNN at spouts off all his ivory tower type opinions about what should be done.

Dobbs repeatedly speaks about the 'American people', referring to the average American citizen, whom he believes have all the answers themselves and have more common sense than anybody in Washington. It's just empty rhetoric! If the situation is SO bad and the the American people are SO smart, then why are there not riots in the street seeking to overthrow the 'Washington elite'?

On November 4th, tens of millions of these 'American people' will go out and vote and willingly take part in supporting the electoral system that Dobbs says is so broken and dysfunctional.

As I've said, I think that Dobbs is pointing out some important problems and issues that need to be raised but it's the overwhelming cynicism and insulting commentary that goes on day after day, week after week that gets me so angry.

It's easy to say the 'system is broken', but why doesn't Dobbs get off his high horse, run for office and try to actually fix something?

Ready, Set, Go!

2008-09-07T19:45:00.010-06:00

Today the Canadian Federal election began. Despite the fact that Stephen Harper made a law to establish fixed dates for elections, he managed to use the loophole that was built into the law, allowing for exceptions to the fixed dates under circumstances of ineffective government. So while he may not have violated his own law in legal terms, most political observers agree that he has violated the spirit of the law.

Harper's no dummy; he knows that the opposition leaders can't really make much fuss about this because they would be arguing against a chance to campaign to become Prime Minister; there's no way they would do that because it would be politically stupid beyond words.

This may go down in history as one of the most boring elections ever in Canadian history. There really aren't any significant issues; perhaps an argument could be made that the Liberals 'carbon tax' proposal will be the main issue, but I just don't see that being the issue that will grip the Canadian people.

I was discussing the reasons for the election with another father in the schoolyard and he argued that the reason was that Harper knows that the economic climate is going to get a lot worse in the next few years, so he's getting the election out of the way so he can stay in power, rather than fight an election in the midst of an economic downturn.

Hmmm... maybe, but this is also a guy who tried to tell me that the federal deficits in the 90's were a cover-up by the government in order to justify the cutting of spending on social programs (and yes, he does campaign for the NDP!)

Stephan Harper has launched TV ads that portray him as a normal average Canadian family guy. Does this mean that we are going to be asked to vote on who should be Prime Minister based on personality rather than substantive issues and policy differences? That sounds a bit like some of the rhetoric that comes from the political campaign south of the border!

But then again, if there are no major issues at hand, then what exactly should Canadians base their vote on?

For the most part I don't think that the Conservatives have done all that bad a job running the country over the past few years and I'm not at all clear on how the country would end up being better off (or even different) if the Liberals came to power. They are the only other realistic alternative; the NDP and the Green Party are certainly welcome voices in the political debate but we all know they won't form a government.

Somehow I'm still left coming back to the question, 'why exactly has this election been called?'

Barak Obama's Big Night

2008-08-29T15:25:00.000-06:00

Last night, I along with millions of others watched the Democratic National Convention in Denver Colorado. It was certainly an historic night. 85,000 people crammed the outdoor stadium to attend the event and the overhead TV shots conveyed the epic nature of the crowd. It must have been an overwhelming event to be at.

Here's a commentary for you: today, the Edmonton Journal carried the story on the front page, while choosing to carry a story announcing the almost certain, soon to be called Canadian Federal election, on page 4!!! Definitely an honest reflection on the state of politics here in Canada.

In the United States, history is being made as Barak Obama became the first African American to be nominated as a major party candidate for President. Next week, the Republicans will nominate John McCain as their nominee and the race for the White House will officially begin. Most likely, that same week, a Canadian election will be called and the vote will take place prior to the American vote on November 4. Thus the entire Canadian election will be drowned out by the much larger, much louder and frankly, more interesting election to the south.

I'm a Canadian and proud of it, but I have to admit that I'm far more interested and captivated by the American political scene. Despite the fact that they have the longest democratic election process on the entire planet, I still can't turn off Wolf Blitzer, Campbell Brown and my favorite Jack Cafferty, on CNN!

Clearly I'm not alone, as evidenced by the choice of the Journal in relation to these two political stories.

Although the Canadian election has not been called, I have to wonder, WHY would they call it now? It strikes me that having an election in the middle of one of the most historic elections in American history is just plain stupid.

I also have to wonder, how many people in Canada will even know that an election is happening in our country? And will they care? Or is having an election now a recipe for the worst voter turnout in Canadian history?

Telus: the present is NOT friendly!

2008-08-28T16:45:00.000-06:00

So I'm looking at The Canopy's phone bill today and seeing that we have $6.95 in long distance charges. This strikes me as strange because I know that I didn't make any long distance calls this month, so I go looking for more details. I soon find that there is a line called "Long Distance Administration Fee" for $6.95.

Now I have never noticed this before, probably because usually there are a few long distance calls on our bill.

In hope of gaining more information, I decide to call the Telus billing inquires number. After a few minutes of being irritated by the soft sultry tones of a computer generated female voice asking me a series of questions I arrive on the Telus help desk waiting line. Prepared for a long wait, I put the phone on speaker, where I am tortured by bad country music.

I begin thinking that eventually I am going to be talking to somebody who is physically located in India or Sri Lanka, and soon enough somebody comes on the line. It's a woman, but she definitely doesn't have the same sultry tones of the computer generated version!

I am informed that the 'Long Distance Administration Fee' is a charge for being able to make long distance calls! By this point the irony of the situation is sinking in: Most likely I've been on the phone for over 20 minutes, talking toll-free on Telus' dime, to a woman in India, who is informing me that Telus is charging $6.95 each month for the ability to make a long distance call, even when I DON'T make a long distance call!!

Is this what Telus imagines as a future that is friendly?

I suppose I should be thankful that I wasn't charged for calling India for 20 minutes!
(then again, maybe I was...)

Rain

2008-08-21T20:56:00.000-06:00

It's rained pretty much the entire time we've been here in Banff. Incredible. It has been great to be at such a wonderful hotel facility... we've spent more time here than we normally would.

Today we went horseback riding. I haven't done that in nearly 20 years. It was great to see Josiah up on a horse and Rebekah looked so cute with pig-tails and cowboy boots! (Rebekah did a horsemanship option at camp this year, so she had more experience than all of us!)

Josiah was such a trooper on the horse: a couple of times his horse didn't want to cooperate and another time he lost hold of the reigns, which scared him a lot. I was very proud of my 6 year old!

We've been eating in our hotel room most of the time, which saves a lot of money. Tonight we're having mini-pizzas and hot chocolate. (not exactly the peak of nutrition, but hey, we're on vacation!)

I'm going to scarf down my pizza and head off to the hot tub, which I've been enjoying a lot of. I've always loved hot-tubs ever since I was a kid, and this one is a really good one. Josiah likes it too; Rebekah is more like Pam, who can take them or leave them.

That's about it for now. Not too many deep thoughts right now. Just enjoying the day!

Reflections from Banff

2008-08-20T00:17:00.000-06:00

Pam and I have been coming for a number of years to the Banff area for part of our summer vacation. In the past years we've stayed at a hotel in Canmore that has been great, however this year we found that they had increased their rates substantially, so we decided to check out other options. Pam searched around and found a place right in Banff that looked pretty good (at least on the internet) and was a really good price.

When we arrived yesterday we were all totally amazed with the place. It feels more like a small condo than a hotel room. There is an upstairs loft with 2 queen beds, so the kids are there. It has a half bathroom and TV in the loft as well. The main bedroom is on the main level, with a small balcony, wood burning fireplace and a full kitchen.

Normally there's no way that we could afford to stay here, but they're doing a major construction project to expand the facility, so during the construction they have lowered their prices.

Oh, and there's a fantastic outdoor hot tub, which I'm all over!

Today we went white water rafting. Since the kids were with us, we were only able to do the introductory level rapids, (which for adults, isn't intense at all) and we had a lot of fun. It rained on and off but since we were getting wet anyway, it wasn't a big deal at all; actually it was a great way to spend a rainy day.

I'm enjoying a real spiritual sensitivity right now. My heart seems soft and responsive to God's Spirit. As I enjoy this time away, I'm aware of 2 things: first, our time of vacation always goes quickly and feels like it just flies by; second, I'm aware more than ever that it's not vacation that renews me. Nowhere in Scripture does it ever say that vacation is what gives inner strength or vitality. I'm not renewed on the inside by a good vacation; it's connecting with God in a meaningful way that brings renewal.

Don't get me wrong... not being all super-spiritual and saying that vacations are no good; clearly not, since I'm on a vacation that I'm enjoying quite a bit.

Yet as I contemplate how quickly the time is flying by, it helps to keep things in perspective.

A Matter of Running

2008-08-18T10:49:00.000-06:00

Well before I take time to continue my reflections on the recent trip to IHOP, I thought I would write about my recent experience running in the ING half-marathon. It was held yesterday at 8 a.m., and there were about 1100 participants. It was my first time running that race and I have to say that it was a very well organized event. There were lots of volunteers and water stations.

I had a sweet and sour race. It was sour because I made a really stupid mistake and forgot to take my gels with me on the race. I brought them with me to the race, but then forgot to take them out of my bag; thus they sat unused in my backpack! (for anyone who doesn't know, gels are energy supplements that you take with you on the run to refuel as you run; without them, you can get in to serious trouble)

I won't go into all the details of how this impacted my race, but suffice it to say that I ended up 'bonking' about 2/3 of the way through the race and had no strength in my legs. (bonking is a term used to describe what happens to your body when you run out of fuel).

The other sour dimension was the heat. I've never run a half marathon in that kind of heat, so it was pretty overwhelming. I was sweating within the first 300 m!!

The race was sweet because in spite of my own self-inflicted stupidity with the gels, I still was able to run it in 1:50, which isn't a bad time, especially given the heat the lack of energy.

It was quite a bit slower than I had trained for, but given the circumstances, I can't complain too much.

So there you have it.

I'm going away for a week of vacation, so I'll be posting again once I get back.

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure Pt. V

2008-08-12T00:21:00.000-06:00

Al and I just arrived in Grand Forks, staying at the same hotel, greeted by our old greasy friend, Ole, the night auditor (he's the one with the elbow holes in his shirt)
As I chatted with him tonight, he told me he's been the night auditor for 25 years! Ole cow! (shoot me now!)

One of the advantages of driving all this way is that you see the United States in much more detail than if you just fly. America is certainly a different culture than Canada!

For instance, at stores you are asked if you want a ‘sack’; meaning a ‘bag’!
In a restaurant, when you’re drinking coke, you are asked if you want a refill on your ‘soda’;
and when you go to pay you’re given your ‘ticket’; obviously meaning your ‘bill’.

America loves really big signs. There are LOTS of enormous billboards, advertising everything you can imagine; if you’re ever hungry for some McDonalds, all you need do is look up into the distant horizon and you’re sure to find some golden arches, atop a pole that has got to be 75 feet in the air!

Americans also love casinos. They are everywhere, in all sorts of sizes, and it seems that virtually every city wants to have its own version of Las Vegas, with some manner of casino-hotel. (and yes, there are enormous signs everywhere, announcing each one!)

And of course there is beer. Everywhere. In every corner store and gas station you can get jumbo cans and bottles of suds, many of which are only slightly more expensive than a ‘soda’!

Speaking of soda, that’s one of the great things about America: you can get cherry coke everywhere, and I’ve been enjoying lots of it! (LOL) And for some reason I don’t understand the fountain ‘soda’ dispensers work perfectly! I’m so used to having to poor off the extraordinary excess amounts of carbonation bubbles, but here in the States, all you do is push the button and watch your glass fill perfectly to the top. It’s amazing! (It’s almost as if it’s the way it’s meant to work!)

I also discovered that Jiffy Lube puts all other Canadian car ‘lube’ places to shame. (who knew!!)
It was amazing. They cleaned all the windows by hand, vacuumed the car, drove the car into the shop for me and offered me coffee while I waited (a wasted offer for sure, but nevertheless). Jiffy Lube rules!

The humor highlight on the trip may well have been Al's discovery of the 'pickle in a pouch' for sale at a local gas station (it's a dill pickle in a sealed pouch, floating in juice). He couldn't pass up the chance to buy one for his dad as a gag gift!

Only in America!

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure Pt. IV

2008-08-11T08:10:00.000-06:00

It's 6:15 a.m. The sun is beginning to rise and as I drive up to the prayer room at IHOP, there are several dozen cars in the parking lot. I go in through the doors, which have screws drilled into the locking mechanisms of the crash bars, preventing the doors from ever being locked.

As I walk into the prayer room, there are about 150 people praying and worshiping along with the worship team. The back sections of chairs are roped off except for a couple of rows of people who are in the designated area for prayers for healing. There are about a dozen or more people sitting and soaking, being prayed for by people standing behind them.

On each side of the room there are tables and chairs set up and they are filled with people using laptops, with their Bibles open, studying the Scriptures and praying. It's powerful to see so many people reading and studying their Bibles as they worship and pray!

Right now, as I type this, there is a young woman praying on the microphone for small fledgeling houses of prayer, just getting started in other cities and nations. This will be the theme for the next while. I'm thinking of HoPE and the beginnings of the House of Prayer in Edmonton.

Earlier in the morning there was an emphasis on praying for people in the work place. After some lengthy intercession for those going to work today, they invited people who are on their way to work, to stand and to have people gather around them, praying for their day and for God to use them and open doors for ministry in the midst of their various places of work. There are a good number of people who stand. To my left in the row behind me, there is a young man in a business suit praying. I found it amazing to see the number of people who came to IHOP before they go to work. This is a daily emphasis during the 6-8 a.m. prayer block during the work week.

Al and I are leaving Kansas City today to head back home. We're planning to drive to Grand Forks today and stay overnight and then do a longer day of driving from Grand Forks back to Edmonton tomorrow.

I wanted to get up and come to IHOP one last time before I have to leave.

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure Pt. III

2008-08-10T17:21:00.000-06:00

I appologize for the lack of posts lately. We are supposed to have free internet access in our room, but it has not been working well. I would have tried to get them to figure out the problem, but I've been pretty busy with other things.

Now I'm using the computer in the hotel lobbey (it's finally free)

Last night we were at the Encountering God service, and the honey was flowing, for sure. It was pretty off the charts to be awesome. Mike Bickle really knocked it out of the park with a great talk and then Jill Austin led the ministry time which was crazy intense. From my perspective, last night alone was worth the trip down here. It's been quite a while since I've been at that kind of meeting. (yes, Abbotsford was wild and crazy but like I said in an earlier post, the honey here is a different flavor)

Today I went to church at Forerunner Christian Fellowship, which is the Sunday Church 'wing' of the IHOP missions base. Al and I will be going tonight, but I wanted to see what it was like at the 10:30 a.m. service (they have 3 services each Sunday). It's interesting to go to FCF because the crowd of people at the services is quite different than at IHOP. IHOP mostly consists of full time and part time intercessory missionaries and various students with the various IHOP schools and internships; On Sunday you see more families and normal Kansas City folk, so the 'intensity' level is noticibly lower. It's just an interesting difference.

I will try to take time to blog again very soon, so stay tuned!

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure Pt. II

2008-08-07T20:21:00.000-06:00

Al and I arrived at Kansas City last night around 10 p.m. It was a good day of driving but we were both more than ready to finally get there! We both agreed that it was a very good idea to break the trip up with some sleep!

Al was pretty tired and wanted to chill out at the hotel, but I couldn't wait and had to get over to IHOP. I thought I'd stay for just a while, but when I got there, plans changed! When I walked in, there were about 600 people there and they were in Song of Songs... just perfect in my world!!

It was awesome! I loved it. It's simply great to be here. Right now I'm typing in the coffee shop at the IHOP missions base.

Today Al and I were at the 10 a.m. slot and it shot off the intensity meter, pretty much from the start. They are getting ready for the CALL DC, which Lou Engle is heading up. The CALL is a young adult ministry that Lou leads here in the States and they have a few enormous gatherings each year, and next week there will be one in Washington, DC. They are praying for that event in major way here and they gathered around Lou and prayed for him and spent quite a while doing prophetic declarations over him and the CALL DC. Some of the declarations were really over the top (neither good or bad). Mike Bickle led the time along with Allan Hood. Cory Russell was there too, as was Jill Austin, who spend quite a long time prophesying over Lou. (I realize those names won't mean much to most, but at least one reader knows who they are!)

Al and I had lunch at TGI Friday's, which was the inspiration for the old Maxwell Taylor's in Edmonton. It's a great restaurant and one that we'll go to again for sure! There is also a Fuddruckers, here in Kansas City too, so we'll be going there too.
We honored the tradition of going to Fudd's in Sioux Falls on the way down. Man that was a good meal!

We don't have a camera (Pam needed mine) so we won't be able to take any pictures, which is a definite bummer. Al and I had a great idea for a picture at Fuddruckers! LOL

What else to say.... hmmmmmm......

In some ways it's hard to describe the more serious dimension of things, which is happening now that we're at the prayer room. I think that reading about the experiences of other people is sometimes difficult, because you can't really appreciate what's happening when you're reading about it.

So I'm hoping to be able to continue to have some humorous things to share with you, but we'll see how it goes.

(If any of you friends back home are wanting to hear about anything specific, please feel free to leave me a comment)

Sadly, the bookstore has been a bit of a disappointment this time around. Not a lot of new material.

Tomorrow the Healing and Deliverance seminar begins, so we'll see how that turns out. We're both going into it lightly, in that we're here more for the prayer room than the seminar; probably we'll go to some of the main sessions, but not the breakouts. (Eric, you get the idea!)

For those faithful readers wondering if I've encountered any honey yet, I can say that it's beginning to drip, but it's a different type of honey than in Abbotsford. No honey glory yet, (On the way in to KC, we drove by 'honey creek', and I laughed. I told Al that if it had been 'honey river', I would have had to buy a camera.... bathin' in the honey!!.... let the reader understand) :)

Well, it's about time to head over to the prayer room. Luke Wood is leading from 10 - midnight, so Al and I are stoked about that. Should be a really good set.

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure Pt. I.5

2008-08-06T08:58:00.000-06:00

So it's 9 a.m. now and after a good night of sleep, Al and I are ready to go!

We ended up staying at the local Holiday Inn (other motels were full and at 2 a.m., you don't have energy to shop around!)

Last night, the greasy night guy named 'Ole' told us our room was poolside, which really didn't matter too much, but this morning I awoke and saw the pool and I have to say, it's amazing. My kids would love it! There's a pretty decent water slide and a big play area for little kids, kind of a small version of the new area at WEM waterpark.

One classic moment last night was Ole informing us of the various amenities of the hotel, when he said, "as of last week, we now have a free continental breakfast; it's located beside the pool'. The tone he used made the comment so funny... mainly because to me, continental breakfasts are about as common as Orange juice, but Ole seemed so impressed as if this was some impressive leap forward in hotel amenities. Nevertheless, Al and I were quite happy to hear it and enjoyed it this a.m.

This morning as I looked over to the pool area, I saw a rather incorporated middle aged man sitting with his family in the hot tub, drinking a diet coke. Not something you often see at 9 a.m. in the morning. As for me, I had some cereal and toast, with marmalade (I looked for honey, but alas, none could be found!).

America certainly has different products for sale. Not only could you have your normal breakfast foods, you could also purchase various snacking foods, such as M&M's and chocolate bars. They also had a snack I'd never heard of before, called a 'Salted Nut Roll'. I have to confess that I'm not a 'salted nut roll' type of guy (not that there's anything wrong with that!!) ;)

Anyhow, so we're pretty close to being on our way, for another fun-filled leg of our journey to IHOP.

I'll keep you posted!

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure Pt. I

2008-08-06T03:26:00.000-06:00

It’s 5:15 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon and Al and I are hurtling down the highway towards Yorkton, Sk. Pretty much the entire trip so far, we have been surrounded by storm clouds behind us and to our left and to our right. It’s been kind of interesting to be just on the edge of a storm; at times it looks like we’re headed right into the middle of it, but then it ends up being just off to the right of us. We’ve even seen some lightening at times!

We drove straight through to Saskatoon and then had lunch at ‘Cactus Jo’s’; some tex-mex place. It was ok. Not sure that I’d saunter across the road to eat there again, but it did the trick.

Saskatchewan has some weird little towns in it. We’ve been through “Sheho”, “Mozart”, and my favorite, “Kandahar”!! (actually we teleported to Iraq.. strangely more desolate than I’d imagined!!)
Another favorite was “foam lake”, which welcomed us with a sign declaring it to be ‘the greatest place on earth’. (wow, if that’s true, then all I can say is Come Lord Jesus, Come!!)

(pause)

It’s now 2:22 a.m. (CST) and we’re in Grand Forks. A greasy looking attendant at the local Holiday Inn welcomed us; his shirt was worn out in the elbows (a wardrobe issue I’ve not seen before!!)

No matter... after driving over 1500 km and being on the road for the better part of 15 hours, I’m ready to crash. It seems I’m not as young as I used to be.

more tomorrow! (okay... later today!)

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure 2008!!

2008-08-04T23:27:00.000-06:00

Well, it's 11:28 p.m. and I'm pretty much packed and ready to head out tomorrow.... ready for 30 hours of driving bliss on the way to the International House of Prayer in Kansas City!! Yahoooooo!

Al and I are scheduled to hit the road at 8 a.m. tomorrow; we'll see how it turns out.

Our time at IHOP happens to overlap with the Healing and Deliverance summit, so we're signed up to take part in it. It's a pretty small gathering of about 300 people, so that will be good. Kind of an unexpected bonus!

Personally, I'm not really going with any specific expectations; mostly wanting to connect with God... spend time reading and praying... soaking in God.

Maybe not expectations of God or IHOP or anybody, but perhaps some expectations about the time I'll have there. Time to get away and not be thinking about responsibilities.

So that's about it for tonight.

The plan is to blog fairly continually about our excellent adventure, kind of like we did last year.

Hopefully it will be both humorous and thought provoking for those who follow along with our journey.... so stay tuned!!

:)

Bread and Water Pt. III

2008-07-31T10:26:00.000-06:00

He said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”. “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”
Jn. 4:32-34

Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.”“I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.
Jn. 5:17, 19-20

In this discussion on Jesus being the bread of life and the living water, my attention has been drawn to Jesus’ statements about the satisfaction and sustenance he gained from doing what his Father told him to do. I’ve found myself beginning to pray and asking God to show me what he is doing. Jesus’ statement, ‘...the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does’, is massive to me right now.

I know that the Father loves me with the same quality of depth of love that he loves Jesus (Jn. 17:23), so I have not only the right, but the invitation to come to my Heavenly Father and ask him to show me all that He is doing.

Bread and Water Pt. II

2008-07-30T10:27:00.000-06:00

Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will ecome in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
Jn. 4:13-14

Jesus makes this statement and in the next verse, the Samaritan woman immediately interprets it completely literally and assumes that one drink will suffice for the rest of her life:

The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water".

On the surface of it, this assumption makes sense. Only a couple of chapters later we read this:

The Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty".
Jn. 6:35

The problem is when I assume that a single 'drink' will satisfy me forever. It's not a 'once filled, always filled' type of thing.
Jesus taught us to pray, "Give us today our daily bread". When I connect that prayer to Jesus saying "I am the bread of life" (Jn. 6:48), I recognize that Jesus is calling me to daily 'eat and drink' of His Presence.

"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.
Jn. 7:38-39

I've known for many years that being filled with the Spirit is not a single event, but an ongoing lifestyle of being continually filled with the Spirit. The problem is that like the Samaritan woman, I often want to 'eat or drink' of Jesus in a way that 'I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water'. The Samaritan woman was thinking in terms of frequency, while Jesus was thinking in terms of level of satisfaction
Perhaps most importantly for me, as I realize that Jesus wants me to daily come to Him to eat and drink and be satisfied, I understand the presence of spiritual hunger and thirst in my life. It's not that I've somehow failed to properly drink of the spring of living water or eat of the bread of life; rather it is His gift to me that keeps me coming back over and over again, because He enjoys my presence even more than I enjoy His.

Bread and Water

2008-07-29T17:05:00.000-06:00

Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
John 4:14

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.
John 7:38

I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never by thirsty.
John 6:35

I've been staring at these verses and praying them for some weeks now.

Many thoughts... many thoughts...

I've got your back

2008-06-27T11:26:00.000-06:00

I know it's been a while since I've blogged, but I got kind of 'spooked' by the whole blogging thing and it's taken me a while to recover.

A lot has happened since my last post, and although I usually don't mention a whole lot about my life in this blog, I feel like making an exception.

At the beginning of June I traveled with my father to Ontario to visit the cemetery where my mother is buried, in honor the 7th year since her death. I very much enjoyed the trip and the extended time with my Dad. It was great to see lots of relatives that I have not seen in several years, especially my cousin Sarah, who I am especially close to. I visited Sturgeon Point, which is the place that I named this blog after. It was good to be there again and I felt a definite sense of release from God in terms of some of my emotions about the Point.

June also saw Pam and I enter another season where our home is opened to others. We have some friends that have been staying with us for a month before they leave for Korea and we saw that God had a purpose for their stay with us even beyond saving a month of rent. Also in June, we agreed to an opportunity to have a french exchange student stay with us for the month of July. It has been a few years since we sensed the Lord wanting us to have people stay with us; some may recall that the last time we had people living with us, it didn't end very well, and we certainly needed a season to recover; God seems to have decided that season is over; I'm glad that He's led us back to an open home again; Pam and I have always wanted our home to be a place of ministry to people who would stay with us.

A couple of weeks ago, I had a very minor car accident but ended up totaling my car! Not cool! I was turning left at a 4-way stop in extremely heavy rain, which reduced my vision and I hit a cement meridian. I was going about 15 km/hr., but the impact deployed both of the airbags. Smoke filled my car which made me think my car was on fire, so I leapt out of the car into the pouring rain, but not before I managed to sustain quite a nasty burn on the majority of my right hand, thanks to the airbag that was supposed to protect me (don't get me started!!)

At any rate, the sub-frame (whatever that is) was bent, so that, along with the other damage caused the insurance company to write off my car. I got a decent settlement but I'm now without a car and I miss my little Honda Civic. Strangely in the midst of it, I've had the sense that somehow God was involved in the car thing. Obviously I can't prove that, but I don't think I'm just being hyper-spiritual about it either. Seems something is going on.

So between Ontario, the car, people staying with us, and the normal activities of life (not to mention some pretty intense adjustments at The Canopy), it's been an unusual June, to say the least!

Back on the evening of May 22, I went for a walk and I remember very clearly God saying "I've got your back". At the time it was a powerful word to hear, and I heard it both with my mind and with my heart. While I knew some of what was coming, I didn't know everything that would happen in the next month.

So as I move on into July, here's hoping that it's a bit of an easier month. For sure I'm glad that God's got my back, but I'm still ready for a bit of a break!
:)

A Neighbor without a Name

2008-05-19T22:40:00.000-06:00

Our neighbor died today.

I came home mid morning, from a trip to the city landfill to discover ambulance and police vehicles along our street. It did not take long to discover that they had come to our neighbor's house. The grim reality became apparent to us that he had died, alone in his home and his body had been discovered this morning.

The events of today are haunting to me: coming to discover ambulance and police at the residence; the arrival of a medical examiner to officially document the death; the presence of a dead body in the home and the subsequent removal of the body wrapped in a blanket, on a gurney; the quietness of all involved as they move about to do their jobs, and the silence and emptiness of a home.

To make things more troublesome is the reality that in the eight years we have lived next to this man, I never knew his name. We had talked many times between yards, over the years, but conversations were never personal in nature; they were instead a bland exchange of pleasantries about the neighborhood and our respective houses. He was a nice enough man; judging from his accent, of some sort of European background.

It's unsettling to suddenly have all sorts of questions about him now that it is too late to ask them.

I could wax eloquent about lessons learned from being too busy, but I won't.

Perhaps the colder reality is that I simply didn't really want to know him. We didn't share enough in common on a surface level to lead beyond that, and besides, I remain essentially a fairly shy person who often struggles to be comfortable meeting new people....

still, it is unsettling to not even know his name.

Perhaps the final irony of today is that two days ago, on Saturday, I finally got around to knocking down the last part of the old, rotten wooden fence that is between our properties. He and I had talked about the fence a number of times, in a friendly way.

In the end, I doubt he even knew that I'd ripped the fence down...

perhaps I should have gotten around to doing it sooner...

The Coming Kingdom

2008-05-08T15:52:00.000-06:00

As we get closer to Mother's Day this Sunday, I've been wondering what my own mother is up to. She died on June 4, 2001. Some people believe that loved ones in heaven can look down and see us on earth... sort of 'peering in' on what's happening.

There is no indication in Scripture one way or the other, but personally I hope not! Although in some ways it's nice to think of people being able to peer over the balcony of heaven; I know my mother would love to see my son Josiah, whom she never met on the earth. She'd love to see Rebekah and watch her growing up. (she'd be amazed at how smart Rebekah is and how funny Josiah is!)

The reality is that we're part of the most amazing plan imaginable: the redemption of our soul, our body and ultimately the entire earth itself!

So, in honor of mother's day, let me explain what I mean by saying a bit about the hope I have related to my mother:

Her soul has already been redeemed. That happened when she put her faith in Christ as her savior. Right now, because of all that Jesus has done, my mother is hanging out in heaven, which is a temporary location for her soul. Again, I'm not sure if she can see us, nor am I sure of what she's doing these days, but I do know that there's no pain or suffering or cruelty in heaven.

She is still awaiting the redemption of her body. Romans 8:23 says that we groan as we await the redemption of our bodies. Unfortunately for most of her life, my mother hated her body. She had a terrible self image, caused mostly by her childhood. There's pretty much nobody that I've ever known that 'groaned' as much for the redemption of her body, as she did! Think about it: we ALL will receive a redeemed human body, one that is imperishable, that 'bears the image of the man from heaven'. (1 Cor. 15:49)(I love that phrase... 'the man from heaven'!)

We know that even the earth itself is 'groaning' in anticipation of its redemption (Rms. 8:21-22) and the arrival of the city prepared for us (Heb.11:16 & Rev. 21). In June my father and I are going to visit the cemetery where my mother is buried, on the 7th anniversary of her death. It's in a town in Ontario called Lindsay, which is near a small village called Sturgeon Point (which is what my blog is named after). Sturgeon Point was my mother's favorite place on earth. The reality is that one day she will be back on this earth; on a redeemed earth, in a redeemed body, and she'll be able to visit Sturgeon Point again. (it may not be called Sturgeon Point then, but she'll be able to visit it again.

Scripture says that those who live by faith are really longing for a better country (Heb. 11:16)...a redeemed country ; Paul wrote that the sufferings and groanings of this age are pointing us toward the hope of the age to come... the coming Kingdom.

If you and I are going to persevere in this age, as Hebrews 10:36 says, and receive what has been promised, the coming Kingdom, then we need to focus on Jesus and the certain hope of living with Him forever as a redeemed soul, in a redeemed body, on a redeemed earth!

Happy Mother's Day!

On Faith Pt. II

2008-05-06T13:50:00.000-06:00

There's something bigger than me...
There's something bigger goin' on...
Misty Edwards

I've been noticing a subtle and yet unmistakable shift lately in the spiritual arena around me. I'm having times where I feel deeply stirred to intercession and can't seem to focus on anything else. There have been times when I've been on my way to a ministry context and feeling good and positive and then when I arrive I'm hit with a major wave of discouragement and frustration, seemingly out of nowhere. Then there have been times in ministry contexts where there have been real events that should legitimately really discourage me, yet for no apparent reason, it doesn't affect me and I'm able to have a positive, faith-oriented posture.

Am I going insane? It seems unlikely. In my spirit, I'm pretty clear that these events are more than just emotional ups and downs... they are spiritually based.

Why is this? Good question! I'd like to know myself. It's as if there is a ton of stuff happening in the spiritual arena but virtually no indication of that activity in the natural realm. (I apologize to those readers who think I've gone off my rocker in talking in these spiritualized terms!)

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Heb. 11:1

Clearly Scripture teaches that there is much reality that we do not see; much activity of which there is no natural evidence.

Thus in faith I must choose to act in the natural (i.e. pray) when my spirit senses activity in the spiritual.

I believe that there is much happening around The Canopy these days in the spiritual realm. I have no outward evidence or reason to support that belief. All I have is subjective impressions and feelings and experiences, some of which I have mentioned here. Beyond that, I believe that something is happening on a city level as well.

While such statments sound all well and good, the question becomes: can I muster the strength to continue to believe such things? With cynicism and doubt crouching at my door, seeking to have me, seeking to hinder me, what will I choose?

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. Heb. 10:35-36

He persevered because he saw him who is invisible. Heb. 11:27

On Faith Pt. I

2008-04-29T18:00:00.000-06:00

Today I've been thinking about Luke 18, which is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. I had been praying it this morning at the southside city prayer gathering.

At the end of the parable of the persistent widow, Jesus asks the question, "when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

Clearly, given the context of Jesus teaching a parable to teach that we should always pray (night and day BTW!), the question is whether there will be faith that moves people to the place of prayer.

This is a HUGE issue and one that I have felt God speaking to me about today.

In Luke 22:31, Jesus tells Peter: "Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail."

Shortly after that he says a similar statement twice to the disciples saying "Pray that you do not fall into temptation".

In my own life, as well as in the lives of many people that I know, I believe that the enemy is hard at work seeking to undermine our faith. Certainly I am aware that this is not a new work of the enemy, however I feel God speaking to me about a particular dimension of this attack.

I don't see this attack focused on faith in the person of Christ (i.e. His deity) but rather on faith about how active God is TODAY.

Our faith in the person and work of Christ may be secure, but when faith weakens in regard to God being active today, the first evidence is that we stop praying. When we don't believe that much will happen when we pray, or when we don't believe that God is doing very much around us, then prayer falls to the wayside.

Right now I sense a weariness in the arena of faith about God's activity both for today and for the future.

Today there was a strong battle in my own life over this issue and I have sensed the Lord speaking to me about it this afternoon.

This is a difficult time here in Edmonton. There seems to be little evidence of any significant activity of God these days. There are prophetic words about the future, but there is little manifest activity right now. I see (and feel) a certain degree of scorn and cynicism about the prophetic words; words that are intended to stir us to the place of prayer!

So I look at the words of Jesus to the disciples:

"Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation."

thoughts

2008-04-25T15:54:00.000-06:00

As I was praying today, the Lord drew my attention to a passage of Scripture:

To keep me from becoming conceited... there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Cor. 12:7-10

As I was praying God brought the phrase 'I will glory in my weakness' into my mind. I knew that it was from Paul's writings and I soon found it in 2 Corintians 12.

I was bit taken aback, as I had never really thought about 'glorying in the weakness' of these circumstances. Sure, I was familiar with the passage, but had not applied it in this way.

What also strikes me is how little I wanted to do it. I still would much rather have the circumstances change!

I am also impacted by the reality that I am not allowing God's grace to be sufficient for me. (How's that for a wake up call!)

All this requires more prayer and thought... probably just prayer!

A Honey Glory!

2008-04-23T14:58:00.000-06:00

For many years, I've been deeply impacted by David Ruis' song 'Let Your Glory Fall'. I've listened to it and prayed around it for over 10 years.

Let your glory fall in this room
Let it go forth from here to the nations
Let your fragrance rest in this place
As we gather to seek your face

Father of creation, unfold your sovereign plan
Raise up a chosen generation
That will march through the land
All of creation is longing
For your unveiling of power
Would you release your anointing
Oh God let this be the hour

Ruler of the nations the world has yet to see
The full release of your promise
The church in victory
Turn to us Lord and touch us
Make us strong in your might
Overcome our weakness
That we could stand up and fight

Let your kingdom come
Let your will be done
Let us see on earth
The glory of your son

by David Ruis

I've been preaching lately on the manifest glory of God. I got an email asking me why we should desire to see the glory of God; why is it necessary? isn't it rather selfish to want to see God's glory?

My first reaction was that if Moses could ask to see the manifest glory of God, why can't we?

It's interesting to note that this person has had some rather unfortunate experiences with 'charismatic' Christian expressions, and given that the charismatic wing of the church are pretty much the only people who ever talk about the manifest glory of God, I wasn't entirely surprised.

I've been in many charismatic gatherings, and so I too know what he's talking about.

For sure I long for a more experiential relationship with God, but I guess how I've been talking about God's glory is a bit different:

I believe that the glory of God is about proximity or closeness to God.

Every time we read of a person in the Bible encountering the manifest Glory of God, they are in close proximity to God. We are designed to long to be in close proximity to God. This desire increases in us once we come to know Christ. We 'taste and see' that He is good. We recognize that He is, as the Scripture says, more desirable than any other created thing, and we want more. We want to be closer. We want greater proximity.

I also believe that to God, His glory is found most fully within his character...within his nature. When Moses asked to see God's glory, the Lord's response was to show him what He is LIKE; that is, His nature, His character: The Lord, slow to anger and abounding in love and kindness... etc.

I find this to be a vital truth: sometimes people have made the glory of God mostly about ecstatic spiritual experiences that some people can relate to and other cannot. But in God's encounter with Moses, He clearly wasn't just giving Moses an ecstatic experience for the sake of spiritual entertainment. God was interested in Moses encountering God's character and nature; the essence of who He is.

Moses asked "teach me your ways so I may know you..." A few verses later he asks "Now show me your glory". Moses understood that to encounter the glory was to encounter God's character and nature!

God has taught me a lot about His glory since the days I first started to pray around David Ruis' song. My thinking on it has been greatly expanded.

Yet for all this time, I've wanted to be like Moses how simply couldn't live without encountering the Glory of God.

I don't want to be a person who can just 'take it or leave it'.

So I'm praying these days for my heart to be expanded in it's desire and thirst for greater proximity to God: to see His glory, to know His character, to touch the honey Presence!

Out on a Limb

2008-03-14T15:45:00.000-06:00

Today the Edmonton Journal reported that two 12-year old girls had been charged in a series of robberies in the city. According to the article, a group of young girls surrounded an 18 year old young woman and robbed her. This swarming technique was used on 3 different occasions in West Edmonton Mall about a month ago. This story is simply shocking.

What on earth is going on? 12 year old girls? Has the world gone completely mad?

If that wasn't enough of a shocker, there was a small piece in the paper reporting that in Amsterdam, law-makers have passed a law which allows for gay sex in a public park.

Here's a quote:

Paul van Grieken, an Alderman in the Oud-Zuid district of the city, has startled many Amsterdammers, despite their famously liberal attitudes, with plans to allow public sex as part of this summer's new rules of conduct for the country's best-known park.

"Why should we try to impose something that is actually impossible to impose, which also causes little bother for others and for a certain group actually means much pleasure?", he said.

Amsterdam's beautiful Vondelpark in the centre of city draws hordes of summer visitors, families, skaters and joggers.

Here's a thought: What about CHILDREN? How can it be appropriate to allow sex (gay or straight) in a public park, where children are more than likely to see it?

This is pure insanity!

If this is the kind of world that we are living in, it's little wonder that we've got 12 year old girls swarming around people and robbing them! Let me be clear: I'm not saying that viewing public sex is going to cause children to become criminals, but I am arguing that the debasing of morality in our society will have a wide range of negative implications on upcoming generations.

Let me say it again: I am NOT making any direct connection between these two stories. But when we hear about 12 year olds swarming and robbing people, and we ask 'How on earth can this happen?', I think we need to pause and think about the context in which many children are being raised. What level of family support are they receiving? What kind of moral compass are they being given? What messages are they being exposed to?

Maybe I'm going out on a limb by writing all this, and I certainly run the risk of offending some people, but as Richard Simmons used to say, "STOP THE INSANITY!"

Things need to change in our society or else 12-year old girls robbing people at knife-point will seem tame compared to what we'll be dealing with in the future!

Maybe Eliot Spitzer wishes he'd been a governor somewhere in Europe, because he'd certainly still have his job!

"High Ethics"

2008-03-10T14:57:00.000-06:00

Today the news broke that New York State Governor, Eliot Spitzer has been linked to a prostitution ring. There is a lot of discussion about this story in the press, especially in light of the fact that Spitzer has been the attorney general of New York who prosecuted other prostitution rings.

Some are calling this a 'political earthquake' and the press is jumping on the fact that he 'preached high ethics', but now has basically admitted meeting with a prostitute in a Washington hotel.

People who knew him apparently are shocked that he would be involved, given his reputation. He was "a crusader who was looked up to by the public".

I'm reminded of the danger that every person faces who is a public figure who ways into ethical issues. Those who call for a 'high' standard of ethical living are always going to be looked at closely, but for the press to say that the public 'looks up to' such a person seems a bit much. Is that why Spitzer won over 60% of the vote in his election as Governor? I'm not convinced that it is.

It certainly does cast more of a shadow on the already tattered reputation of politicians.

All I can say is that for once, there is no connection to the Church.

Too Funny

2008-03-07T17:28:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine, Mikaela Hanley passed this on to me.

I loved it:

IKEA has announced its intention to start selling cars.

Politics and Hockey

2008-03-03T00:05:00.000-07:00

On the eve of our provincial election here in Alberta, I thought I'd offer some thoughts I've had:

Tonight my friend Scott Reynolds was kind enough to offer me a last minute ticket to the Oilers game again the Columbus Bluejackets (the name 'bluejackets' warrants an entire blog entry of its own....but I digress!)

Scott is far more of a 'student' of the game of hockey and specifically the Oilers and the NHL, than your average 'joe' fan. I guess I fall into the later category myself: I basically read the Edmonton Journal sports page and watch the TSN highlights of the Oilers games and that's pretty much it. Scott is far more aware of the statistics of individual players, the various lines that the Oilers have, as well as those of the opposition team. Trying to talk with Scott about hockey leaves me, well, thinking I need to go to an Oilers version of the Eskimos 'intro to football' course!

At any rate, allow me to develop my thoughts further: Sam Gagner is one of the new Oiler favorites this year. People in town think he's simply an amazing rookie hockey player. He's scored a lot of points this year, especially for a rookie. In spite of this, Scott maintains that the Oilers should have kept him in the minors this year to give him more time to develop, rather than making the jump to the NHL. Scott's main reason is that while Sam has scored many points, he's been on the ice for far more goals against the Oilers than he's scored for the Oilers.

The difference between Scott and the majority of Oiler fans illustrates nicely the reality of the current Albertan political landscape.

Tomorrow thousands of Albertans will go to the polls and vote more on the basis of who they 'kind of like' or 'feel good about' rather than on the basis of thought out, fact based decisions. Which party leaders sounds best in speeches and sound bites. Most of us will base our decision on several 15 second TV clips we've seen in the news of the leaders.

Sadly this results in our democratic process being reduced largely to a popularity contest set in the guise of a debate on political ideas.

Lest anybody mistake what I'm saying as a argument for not voting as the answer to political ignorance, nothing could be further from the truth. People who don't vote infuriate me! As I was discussing with my good friend John Hanley tonight, the Australian system where it is illegal to not vote has great attraction to me! (although, I grant that such a system would do very little to deal with the problem of ignorant voters.)

When you go to an Oilers game, you have 16,000 different opinions about what's right or wrong with the team and what should be done to fix it. It's like sitting in a room full of arm-chair quarterbacks.

While watching tomorrow night's election results likely won't be as entertaining as watching an Oilers game, it almost certainly will end up making me think about the people I watched the Oilers game with!

What is It?

2008-03-01T11:34:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking recently about intimacy. Most of the time we think of intimacy in terms of sex. Years ago I heard a great quote: "Sex doesn't create intimacy; it is a celebration of intimacy". So what exactly is intimacy anyway? How do you create it?

As I thought about this, I recognized that I often use the term intimacy in relationship to God (so obviously there is no sexual connection to this use of the term). I also recognized that I'm not sure I can sufficiently explain what I mean by the phrase 'intimacy with God'. This is a problem.

Jason Upton sings about the Key of David being intimacy. It's like it's become part of the Christian 'lingo' but do we understand what it actually means?

It's widely understood that our relationship with our earthly father will dynamically impact our view of God as Father. So here's a question: if our framework for the father-heart of God is impacted that way, then what about our framework for understanding and entering into intimacy with God? How important is the existence (or lack thereof) of intimacy in our human relationships in allowing us to experience intimacy with God?

One would assume that it is, but that creates some difficult problems in my mind: King David is not who I would lift up as a model of human intimacy. You could look at his friendship with Jonathan, but he certainly didn't hit the mark with his marriage or with his kids!

So I'm left with a difficult paradox: how could David have experienced so much intimacy with God and yet have such lousy family relationships?

This brings us back full circle to the original question of what exactly is intimacy, either with other human beings or with God?

Invited

2008-02-25T22:24:00.000-07:00

Far away but invited
Distant but sought
wandering and apathetic
It's time to go back
Time to see
Time to hear

If I lie on the beach will I soak up the sun?
Will feel the warmth?
Can I breath in the air?

Will I stand up or will I sit down?
Will I run with the horses or fall in the thicket?

The jug is cracked
water lost
lips parched

And I, I want to be like a tree
planted by the streams of living water
I want to be unmovable
unshakable
let my roots go down
let them go down deep
rooted and grounded

A hand lifted high
yet eyes remain closed

The yearning soul
the longing spirit

A feast of rich food
a banquet of aged wine
a honey pot on the shelf
honey from the rock

What's Missing

2008-02-24T20:37:00.000-07:00

I've been watching quite a bit of the American election process. The primaries that will decide who will run for the Presidency of the United States. I've watched several of the debates and countless reports on the candidates rallies as well as the election night coverage, with the self-named 'best political team on television' (words can't express who arrogant that is and how nauseating that is!!)

I know that I'm from Canada and that the political issues are different, and I know that I'm from Alberta and thus I risk offending most people who will read this, however I simply cannot refrain from making this point:

There has been an almost total absence of any discussion on one of the most important issues that impacts not only the United States, but every other country on earth: the issue of climate change.

I have heard NONE of the candidates speak about this issue. I have heard no questions directed to the candidates on this issue in ANY of the debates. I have not seen even ONE news report on the primaries deal with this issue. I have NO idea what any of the candidates plan to do about this issue. Okay, well I guess I do have an idea: they have NO plan to do anything.

In some ways this isn't exactly shocking, but what is shocking is that this issue simply isn't on the radar of the candidates, the American media or the American public. This is utterly appalling.

Do you know what the main issues are? The economy and the immigration problem. Both are major issues at every turn because the problems with both are interfering with the pursuit of the so-called 'american dream'. Of course, the same basic pursuit certainly impacts our Canadian populace, but the issue is at least of real concern to many Canadians.

This issue of climate change is very complex and there are no simple answers, but the absolute silence on the current campaign trail is more disturbing to me than I can express. At a time in world history where such a global problem exists, we need the sharpest minds working on solutions and we need the very best in world leaders to be giving genuine leadership to this issue.

At a time when cynicism about government and political leaders is at an all time high, I am saddened to say that this issue is having that effect on me: I too am becoming cynical about what really drives these candidates and whether they will actually act as leaders and make difficult decisions, regardless of whether those decisions are politically popular or not.

I've often wondered how committed to 'democracy' I really am. Well, let me put it this way: I am NOT into 'populism'; meaning that I do NOT believe that leaders should simply do the will of the people. That's not leadership. The role of leaders it to have a more in depth understanding of the issues and be able to make judgements about what decisions are needed, regardless of whether they are 'popular'.

So as we watch the unfolding of the American political process, I invite you to watch and listen with me to see if the issue of climate change even is raised in the coming months.

An Inconvenient Service

2008-02-23T13:24:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about the nature of voluntary service. Like cleaning a house, helping people move, stepping in to help out with short notice, doing things without being asked.

There are times when we are willing to step up to the plate and times when we are not. There are times when it's convenient to serve and times with it is inconvenient. Most people are willing to get involved when it's convenient because it makes us feel good; but things change when it becomes inconvenient. I want to say that being willing to help out in spite of inconvenience is a sign of maturity but while that is often true, it isn't always the case.

I think our present day culture of being served, being entertained, and being entitled has led to a culture of convenience. (I'm continually amazed that the 'convenience store' near my house is able to stay in business, but I certainly am willing to occasionally go there and pay $1 more for a jug of milk simply for the 'convenience'!)

I see examples of both all around me: some who will jump in and help and serve regardless of whether it's convenient or inconvenient, and others who mostly just step up to the plate when it's convenient. Yet I'm left with the realization that I need to assess how tied I am to convenience. I am becoming more accepting of inconvenience or less? Some days I'm not sure. Some days it changes. I guess I hope that in the overall picture of things, that I'm moving in the right direction. Can't blame the culture. At some point you have to suck it up and get some maturity!

A few years ago, one of my favorite worship leaders, Paul Oakley wrote a song entitled: 'It's all About You'

One line from the song goes,

It's all about You, Jesus And all this is for You For Your glory and Your fame
It's not about me, as if You should do things my way.

One of my friends, Mike Tkachuk does a humorous version on this line, to make a point:

It's all about me, Jesus and all this is for me; for my glory and my fame
It's not about you, because you should do things my way.

One of the reasons why Paul Oakley's lyrics in this song have struck a chord with people (pardon the pun!) is because we know (or should know) that the gospel of Jesus is a gospel of service, and very often that makes it a gospel of inconvenience!

just some things I've been thinking about.

Remembering

2008-01-28T18:14:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Irvin Reich died when the Golden Arrow bus he was driving slammed into a flatbed truck that was carrying metal pipes. Irvin used to be the owner & operator of Brightwood Youth Ranch. I was sobered to hear of his death. While I really didn't know him, I do have several memories of him from my times at Brightwood camp. Many of my favorite retreat type memories are from Brightwood. The McKernan College and Career group went there several times for winter retreats. I remember Irvin from the orientation times to the camp, from the winter horse drawn hay ride, and bringing countless amounts of wood into the main lodge where they had an incredible wood burning style stove/fireplace.

Tonight I watched his wife on the 6 p.m. news and remembered her working away in the Brightwood kitchen, cooking many meals.

Even though I barely knew Irvin, there is something jarring about knowing a person who was killed in such a horrific accident.

So today has been a day of reflection and remembering. It was a good time in my life... those days when we went to Brightwood. Lots of prayer and conversations and RISK games and eating. We saw the Holy Spirit come in power and start a spiritual fire in many lives, the effects of which are still being felt today!

It's interesting to think back to the time when the Spirit came in power... since I've lately been thinking so much about the 'honey glory'!

I pray for the Reich family, and honor the work and life of Irvin Reich, who loved Jesus and now is able to see the One who he served for his entire life.

One for the Dogs

2008-01-27T18:20:00.000-07:00

Today I woke up to a very cold, snowy day with wind gusts blowing snow everywhere. We've been told for a while that this week coming up would be brutally cold and it's here!

Today it's was about -23 outside and about -30 with the wind chill factored in.

But it's Sunday, so, you guessed it, I went for my weekend long run. I actually was pumped up about it, just because it was so cold out and it seemed like a badge of honor to be running in such conditions. (others would say it's a badge of insanity, but that 's another story!)

If the idea of running in -30 seems nutty to you, think of it this way: at least I was running, and thus keeping myself reasonably warm! I honestly didn't expect to see anyone else on the Mill Creek path today, but I did. Quite a few of them actually. DOG WALKERS. People out in -30 walking with their dog. Now that's hardcore! I even saw one couple walking where the woman had the dog and the man was reaching into a snow bank to retrieve the dog's poop! Believe you me...I appreciate pooper-scooper-uppers, but that's going above and beyond the call of duty!!! WOW.

Speaking of poop, there was an article in yesterday's paper about police finding a pipe bomb in the bottom of a port-a-potty. It happened in north Vancouver on Friday morning. How would you like to have been the poor sap who had to remove the bombs!! If they had gone off, it would have given new meaning to the phrase 'the &*^% hit the fan'!! Ha Ha.

One final thought on the topic:

Every so often I end up feeling like *&^% on a Sunday afternoon, having preached with energy but without much anointing. Or so it seemed today. It reminded me of the Canada Dry Ginger Ale that's been sitting in our fridge for a few weeks: FLAT!

Who knows, maybe everyone was so cold from the drive to church that the blood never really got flowing again. Who knows. The whole thing is, admittedly, subjective, given that I'm basing it primarily on how I read the congregation. Listening, but not much response. At least people were listening. That's got to count for something.

Tonight I'm staying in! We've got the wood fireplace going, for the first time this winter and it's great. I love real wood fireplaces. My grandmother had one in her lakeside house in Ontario, so I've been in love with them ever since.

So with hot chocolate in hand and a fire burning, I will bunker down and let the cold wind swirl away outside, while I stay warm on the inside!

Honey

2008-01-25T11:27:00.000-07:00

"The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward." Ps. 19:9-11

Things I Wonder About

2008-01-22T22:55:00.000-07:00

It's been so long since I blogged that I wondered if I had forgotten my password! Evidently, I was able to remember it!

It's 9:30 p.m. and I'm watching the American Idol auditions with Pam. Given that I feel guilty about it, I thought I'd try to redeem the time by doing something productive and important (lol) like blogging! HA!

Right now there's an insane woman who wants her son to be the next American Idol and she actually said that American Idol is her biggest dream in life; that it's the reason for her entire life!! It was incredible.

Do these people actually think they can sing? Or are they trying to be so funny and so bad that they get on the auditions episodes? They can't be serious. Maybe it's scripted somehow.

A friend of mine commented to me once that American Idol is popular because it plays to the current young adult generation's obsession with themselves and with fantasies of fame.

So here are some things I'm wondering about lately:

a) Heath Ledger died today. Who would name their son 'Heath'?

b) Fred Thompson dropped out of his bid for the American Presidency today. I wonder if he'll go back to being on Law & Order? I hope so!

c) Bees have been dying in record numbers for the past several years and nobody knows why. I really like honey, so I hope they can discover what is happening. Here's to swirlin' in the honey!

d) I've been watching a lot of the U.S. Presidential primaries (much to the confusion of Pam, but she forgets that political science was my minor in University!) I love it. I'm not sure if Barak Obama or Hilary Clinton will win the nomination, but I do wonder if either of them like honey!

e) It's fascinating that for most Americans, the Iraq war has fallen way down their priority list. Right now the economy is most important to them. I understand why. Given the complexity of the Iraq conflict and the current U.S. economic crisis, I wonder why anybody would want to be President. It's the most brutal job around!

f) I wonder where I can get more honey.

So there you have it.

The Beginning of New Things

2008-01-01T16:20:00.000-07:00

Last night I was at the fireworks downtown and was able to say so-long and good riddance to 2007, and here's hoping for 2008!

Some people have said that the number 8 in the Scriptures means or signals 'new beginnings'. I don't know of any evidence to prove that, but after 2007, I'm more than willing to "take it in faith"... I'm more than ready for some 'new beginnings'!

In many ways, 2007 was about as low a valley in ministry as I've experienced. In the midst of virtual continual turmoil I found God teaching me some hard lessons about myself, exposing and peeling away encrusted ideas and mindsets, along with certain paradigms and identity issues. It was a year where God brought some people into my life and then moved them out; many others were moved (or chose to leave) to different churches and/or places to live. In some ways, there was so much relational transition that I have gotten used to it and to a degree have numbed out to it. After a while you're so used to people 'moving on' that you just say 'well, here we go again' and you just keep on going.

In the midst of it all, I have experienced God sustaining me and somehow keeping a sense of hope about the future. I'm actually being serious about that; I'm not spewing pious Christian platitudes. I don't understand it and I certainly can't explain it, but in spite of all that 2007 threw my way, I feel closer to God and responsive to His Spirit. I don't feel particularly depressed; certainly there are times of significant discouragement, but they seem to pass reasonably quickly. I can't totally explain it.

As I said, I also recognize that God has been teaching me a lot and has been shaping me through all that has happened in 2007. James says that I should 'rejoice' in these trials and Paul says that such things are but 'momentary light afflictions' that can gain eternal weight in glory; I have focused a lot on those Scriptures.

So what now in 2008?

There are things happening in me that I can't articulate right now. I can sense it in my spirit, but my mind can't understand it. That's okay. God is working in me, and I'll just try to relax cooperate as best I can.

In some ways I'm not really thinking a lot about what God will do or may do in 2008. I just don't have energy for that right now. I need to focus on what God is saying to me and wanting me to do in the present moment, and let God do whatever He chooses in the bigger picture.

For January, I believe that God is inviting me to re-dig some old wells in my spiritual life. Not to go back to the past, but to rediscover some dimensions that have been covered over a bit. (sounds vague, but I'm intentionally not being specific... guess I'll have to discuss it more in the future! :)

2008 will not be a year to sit back and passively watch for what God will do. I don't know what He will do, but I do have energy to re-discover and re-engage in some ways in my own personal life.

I hope that I will be able to put some of the lessons of '07 into practice and see some fruit in '08.

At any rate, to all who read this, I wish you a Happy New Year and hope that 2008 will be a year of new beginnings for all of us!

Why Benazir Bhutto's Death Matters

2007-12-28T14:25:00.000-07:00

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

2007-12-14T13:38:00.000-07:00

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

2007-12-11T11:57:00.000-07:00

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

2007-12-10T13:10:00.000-07:00

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

2007-12-09T18:06:00.000-07:00

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...

2007-12-06T23:55:00.000-07:00

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

2007-12-05T08:52:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-11-29T15:46:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-11-26T09:24:00.000-07:00

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

2007-11-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

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

2007-11-07T22:50:00.000-07:00

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

2007-11-05T21:27:00.000-07:00

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

2007-11-01T10:40:00.000-06:00

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

2007-10-31T11:18:00.000-06:00

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

2007-10-29T09:04:00.000-06:00

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

2007-10-26T18:18:00.000-06:00

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

2007-10-25T10:43:00.000-06:00

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!

2007-10-24T23:43:00.000-06:00

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

2007-10-24T09:00:00.000-06:00

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

2007-10-23T08:56:00.001-06:00

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

2007-10-23T01:56:00.000-06:00

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

2007-10-22T13:21:00.000-06:00

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

The Problem with CNN

2007-10-21T20:22:00.000-06:00

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

2007-10-18T15:11:00.000-06:00

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

2007-10-08T09:55:00.001-06:00

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

2007-09-25T14:46:00.000-06:00

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

2007-09-15T15:38:00.000-06:00

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!

2007-09-13T15:44:00.000-06:00

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

2007-09-12T10:42:00.000-06:00

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

2007-08-29T15:07:00.000-06:00

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

2007-08-06T23:14:00.000-06:00

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

2007-08-06T23:10:00.000-06:00

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

2007-08-05T01:11:00.000-06:00

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

2007-08-05T00:11:00.002-06:00

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

2007-08-05T00:09:00.001-06:00

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!)