Ditched in the snow

Last Friday we went to a ski resort for a weekend with friends from around the division. The resort was about 4 hours from London and the snow had been significant over the day or two beforehand. Tasha, Gabe, Jenn and Josh and I were in the car, so we were enjoying the road-trip together on the back-roads. We soon discovered that the roads weren't as wide as they looked. One minute I saw a truck coming the other way and so I moved over a few inches to give him space to pass. Before I know it, the car is sliding and no matter what I do with the steering wheel, the car is in autopilot....destination:ditch!
30 minutes and $40 later, we hit the road again.
Aside from that, we had a great weekend with some good worship times (led by Jenn, Josh and Dan), a good guest speaker (Paul Morris) and some time relaxing in the hot tub. The journey home was deliberately slower, but no tow-trucks were required.

The LORD's Voice

This week we have running a 24/7 Prayer Room here in London...
It is so great to have one of these around again-- it's very refreshing!

Here's a little bit of what I heard as I had some time in there:

"The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will produce everywhere I send it." - Isaiah 55:10-11

--Listen for the word of the Lord.

Now after reading those two verses I realized how important it is to listen for the Lord's voice and to proclaim and claim those things. Read the verse again-- Look at the outcome of the Lord's word-- It can and will change things around you, people around you. That's what we are hear for-- to put pressure on this world around us, to see His Kingdom come and His will be done on this earth as it is in heaven.

"The voice of the LORD echoes abover the sea. The God of Glory thunders. The LORD thunders over the mighty sea.
The voice of the LORD is powerful;
the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
The voice of the LORD splits the mighty cedars;
the LORD shatters the cedars of Lebanon....
The voice of the LORD strikes with lightning bolts.
The voice of the LORD makes the desert quake; the LORD shakes the desert of Kadesh.
The voice of the LORD strips the forests bare." -Psalm 29

Don't just tune into the word of the LORD, proclaim the word of the LORD.
Deep Peace.

Be prepared to have others follow.

I thought this was a great verse to add under 614 goals and of course all Jesus followers out there:

"Mark out a straight path for your feet. Then those who follow you, though they are weak and lame, will not stumble and fall but will become strong." -Hebrews 12:13

The way I look at it, this verse is all about Discipleship.
You can't just walk into Discipleship unprepared-- if you aren't prepared, walking on the staight path that God has set out for you, then those you want to see trained up for the Kingdom are going to stumble and be hurt. Now we don't want any of that now do we.

Be prepared, Be committed.

Deep Peace.

Words Have Power

"Keep your words soft and sweet, for one day you may have to eat them."

My phone rang this afternoon and a work colleague told me to check out today's London Free Press newspaper. A group of employees from The Centre of Hope had attended a presentation yesterday, as a financial foundation in the city donated a significant sum of money towards one of the Centre's new programs. The program is designed to equip residents of the hostel with the basic skills to manage their own finances and hopefully reduce the number of clients who are caught in the cycle of using and re-using the Salvation Army's services.
Anyway, I checked online and found my own words in print. Even before I read it, I was quite excited by the thought of having my words immortalized in print ...at least for the twenty-four hours before the next issue!
But after reading what was printed (click here for the full article), my first reaction was that I'd been misquoted. The article says:

"This is not just a cash deal, we're equipping people with skills," Ryan Parkin, chaplain for the Salvation Army, said.

He said he was happy to see an investment in education that could pick up where food and shelter leave off.

"If they are recurring visitors at the hostel, then obviously they don't have the skills to manage their finances. With this program, they won't find themselves in that cycle where they return every few weeks."

The quote was generally okay, except for the part that says that 'recurring visitors at the hostel obviously don't have the skills to manage their finances'. I would have prefered that it read "Many of the recurring visitors don't have the skills...." or "For those who don't have the skills...", but instead I'm quoted saying "If they are recurring visitors...then obviously, they don't have the skills". It sounds a bit strong to me, even if it does hit close to the mark.
I don't remember saying it quite like that and more importantly, I don't like to generalize. After all the people I've met at the Centre, I'd like to think that I'd be one of the last to generalize their abilities and skills. Text can be so emotionless! I'll assume you knew what I meant and didn't take offense!
I'm sure I'm making an issue (or at least a blog-post) out of nothing, but I guess it made me realize that written words have significant value, but maybe spoken words can contain a greater amount of emotion and intent. When we try and translate them from mouth to paper (and vice versa), we can lose some of the interpretation. It reminds me to be intentional and careful in what I say and also not to jump to conclusions in what I read. Words have power!

Radically Pursue

Have I got a blog for you..
A friend called today and suggested that I read Hebrews 4, 11, 12-- to go hand in hand with what God has been speaking to me lately.
It was some serious RICH stuff-- very exciting to read! Thanks Bernie!

Okay so the biggest part about all this reading was Hebrews 11. I started making a big connection with our faith and God's promises to us. I mean Hebrews 11 is pretty much ALL about it.

Our faith is the foundation of us radically pursuing God's promises.


Let me show you what I mean (all from Hebrews 11)--
NOAH built an arc IN FAITH for a flood when it had never flooded before-- to radically pursue God's promises.
ABRAHAM went IN FAITH to a land without knowing where he was going-- to radically pursue God's promise for his land of inheritance.
Sarah/Abraham continued IN FAITH to believe that they were going to have a child, even though, they were both too old to have children and Sarah was barren-- to radically pursue God's promise, that they would have a child named Isaac.
Abraham went IN FAITH to offer his son as a sacrifice to the Lord, even though God has promised him, "Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.." BUT "Abraham assumed that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again." Abraham was going to see his son sacrificed-- to radically pursue God's promise, that a whole nation would come from him.
Joseph IN FAITH commanded the Israelites to carry his bones with them when they left Egypt-- because he radically believed and pursued God's promise that God was bringing the people out of Egypt.
Moses IN FAITH "commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle the blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons."-- Moses radically pursued God's promise to see the people of Israel set free, and brought others along with him.

How cool is that?!
Notice how these people didn't just sit around and bank on God's promises. They actally had to step out and do these radical things in faith to see these promises come into being.
Not just simple, non-sacrificial things, RADICALLY sacrificial things.

Oh yeah, and to add on to this:
"All these faithful ones died without receiving what God had promised them (in full), but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed the promises of God. They agreed that they were no more than foreigners and nomads here on earth."- Heb. 11:13
"That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a heavenly city for them." -Heb. 11:16b

Doesn't that add on to how much more radical they were. They pursued (an adjective/action- the definition being- to try to find, get, win, strive for, seek after) God's promises even though they didn't see the full fruit. Talk about strong faith and selflessness.

I will leave you off with this:
"By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and recieved what God had promised them. They shut mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. Women received their loved ones back again from death.
But others trusted God and were tortured, preferring to die rather than turn from God and be free. They placed their hope in the resurrection to a better life. Some were mocked, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in dungeons. Some died by stoning, and some were sawed in half; others were killed with the sword. Some went about in skins of sheep and goats, hungry and oppressed and mistreated.
They were too good for this world. They wandered over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.
All these people we have mentioned received God's approval because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God has promised. For God has far better things in mind for us that would also benefit them, for they can't receive the prize at the end of the race until we finish the race."- Hebrews 11:33-40

-It takes faith to follow God's promises.
-You can't just sit on your butt and wait for God's promises to come to you-- radically pursue them.
-This is not our home-- our prize is in heaven.

Alright, now get up and go.

Deep Peace.
J.I.