Why Columbia U. Got it Wrong

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Servant of All

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

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

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

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

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

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

Misty Edwards
International House of Prayer

Too Busy!

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

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

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

Restoration

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It's been a while

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"I make all things new."

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure: The Conclusion

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

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

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

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

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure Pt. VIII

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

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

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

Chorus:
You bring restoration
You bring restoration to my soul

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

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

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

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

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

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure Pt. VII

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

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

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

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure Pt. VI

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

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

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

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

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

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure Pt. V

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

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

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

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

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure Pt. IV

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure Pt. III

Day 2 (part II)

A funny thing happened when we arrived today.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure Pt. II

Day 2

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

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

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

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

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

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure Pt. I

Day 1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amen Lord! So be it!

I will follow

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

on Faith, Hope & Love

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

my neighborhood

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

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

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

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

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

Some thoughts on Chris Benoit

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

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

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

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

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

Just some of my questions right now....

David's tabernacle (pt. 1)

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

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

Here's 3 summary points:

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

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

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

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

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

So why is any of this important?

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

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