What are we doing again?

So, we're past the halfway point with VBS now. I've been challenged lately about the whole purpose for VBS. I always thought of it as both an evangelical tool, as well as a way of equipping young people with truths that would help them grow in faith. I love seeing kids be kids. I know too many kids who have had to grow up way before their time, and too many adults who wouldn't give a child the benefit of decent conversation, delving into real questions. Why is it that we tend to shy away from hard questions with kids? Why are we so afraid to be wrong once in a while, or let someone younger than us teach US a few things once in a while? Do we think they can't overhear the hushed conversations late at night when they're supposed to be sleeping? Do we think they don't know when somethings up? Seriously, kids are more perceptive than most people give them credit for. Why do we have this compulsion when someone comes to us with a problem that we have to fix it? Maybe growth isn't necessarily found in getting all the answers right, but in sharing in eachothers' struggles.
I think God's trying to prune my always wanting to be right attitude. The thought of a "questions only" week has come to mind. 7 days where I will not speak unless it is a question, or unless my opinion is directly asked of me. (Man, this is going to be tough!)

in the world, not of it....

Spent some time with Jesus Tuesday. It was good. very good. Today I spent some time with people which was also good. very good. (zehr gut for Esther!- I have a chinese friend who speaks German, by the way! He's lived in Salzburg, too!)
I was speaking to one of the volunteers at the soup kitchen today who had served in the air force in Bermuda for three months. He said soldiers couldn't cope with the way of living down there. Every week, someone would have a breakdown because there was nothing to do down there besides "bikes, booze, babes, and beaches." He said it wasn't just the Americans, but the British troops as well that had the trouble. They would literally go crazy out of boredom. They were so accustomed to a "go,go,go" regimented way of living, that they couldn't slow down and adjust to the Carribean lifestyle.
I wonder if we are guilty of this in the Army at times? Taking fresh fighters, and sending them out into 'soft' territory to get their 'feet' wet, instead of plunging them into the thick of the fight. Or is it more of a personal discipline thing? I heard a story of a certain officer who was sent out to do mundane work in hopes of dulling his fire and quieting his voice that was often contradictory to the way things were. He perservered even in the most pitiful cirumstances, with one of the least "impactful" jobs his superiors could come up with...shoveling dirt. Yet when they asked him how his new position was going, he was cheerful and full of joy. I guess this situation proves that a soldier is a soldier at heart, not necessarily in location. We are to "be always on guard," yes?

"If we are the Body, why arent His arms reaching? Why aren't His hands healing?"
(Casting Crowns)

catching up...

Wow, the weeks fly by as the summer goes! This week has been full. We had teens helping out pretty much every day this week with VBS prep. Jen left for Ontario, Tarah came back from New York, then back out to Portland to visit Acacia. Watched a few movies (Kingdom of Heaven and Batman Begins). Travis preached. I worked at the thrift store and learned how to screen print. Yesterday I hung out at the skate park and took a group out to the lake for the afternoon, which rocked, and then a few of us hung out to watch the movie Life Aquatic with Bill Murray which bored us to tears. Tomorrow I wake up in the wee hours to drive to camp and pick up kids. Tomorrow night VBS starts. We've been handing out lots of flyers, and ghetto-rigged a bunch of store fronts for our Jerusalem Marketplace--much fun! Tomorrow we have to find a ham bone for the Synagogue school....and a butt-load of yamulkes. (Is it kosher to say butt in the same sentance as Synagogue? Ah well, there's freedom in Christ!)

My theological "slant"

I took that quiz thingy from Doug Burr's blog. (Some day I'll figure out how to do links!) And these were my top two. I think they are both related!!



You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this.


You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists.

Check it out yourself and see where your beliefs plant you (not that we need to put labels on ourselves, of course!!)
http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=43870

Kingdom of Heaven (2)

Some other good points from the movie....

Salvation, Redemption- when he is rescued by his father from his accusers, "They had a right to take me." "So do I"- like how Jesus stands up for us in the face of our accuser, Satan. Satan wants to find every foothold to condemn us to hell. Jesus came not to condemn, but to save the world through Him. Everyone who is in Christ will be kept blameless...every sin covered by the blood of Jesus will be thrown into the sea of forgetfulness and it will be remembered no more.

Training wounded- you'll never feel like you're up to the challenge ahead, but jumping in and perservering despite all odds is the mark of a warrior

Peace when the King returns to Jerusalem- Revelation says that when Jesus comes again, that ALL NATIONS will worship him in Spirit and Truth and there will be peace FOREVER

Servant leadership (Proverbs 10:4)- kinda like Len Ballantine's speak in October about pilgrim people being ones who dig wells in desert places...

Protect the people- the principles of religion should always have people at it's heart...if we're not reaching people with Salvation, than let it be tossed away

Tell the truth always, even if it means your death- many martyrs were put to death for their faith in Christ. Is there anything in your life you are willing to die for? (Ps24:3-6, 25:8, 19)

standing firm in what you know to be right- even a little evil to accomplish a greater good is still a little evil, and results in a stained conscience. (Psalm 26:4-6)

Does making a man a knight make him a better fighter? YES!!- being called to a higher purpose than slaves...(Jesus said "I no longer call you slaves because a slave does not know his masters' business. Instead I have called you friends")

Battle strategy- stay near the water (the Word of God)- patience, peace at all times-take out the enemy's main offensive (what areas do feel easily defeated in? Find a friend you can confide in, and develop a strategy together to tackle/overcome that obstacle...relationships? anger? addiction? gossip? comparisons? finances? purity? prayer?)

Victory in Defeat

The queen cutting her hair

"A queen never walks...and yet you are walking"

"I am the blacksmith"

Kingdom of Heaven (part 1)

Just saw an excellent movie last night, called the Kingdom of Heaven. The film is quite bloody, but chocked full of tastey bits to chew on, mull over, and really challenge you. One of the lines that comes up a lot in the movie is "I am what I am". Any of you familiar with The Prince of Egypt, or the book of Exodus will remember that that's how God identified Himself to the Jews when they were about to be released from Egyptian captivity. In this case, however, it was often people trying to justify satisfying their own destructive cravings/desires by saying "I am what I am." This is totally what the battle between the flesh and the spirit is all about in Romans 8:5-8:

"Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on
what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the
Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of
sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and
peace; The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's
law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot
please God."

You see this battle being lost even by people in positions of religious authority, choosing their own survival over what is actually good and right and just. Choosing to live according to the Spirit, means doing what is right, even if it means putting yourself in awkward situations sometimes. There are tons of examples of this in the movie, like battles between a handful of knights against a ridiculous amount of opposing armies, Good Samaritan moments, marriage proposals, victory in defeat(that one's for Danielle!), the knights' pledge to "protect the people", alligning yourself with the oppressed rather than the oppressor, forsaking the letter of the law for the Spirit of the law, all very very good stuff.

One great quote from the movie was, "A king can influence a man, but the man's song is his own." Man, that is rich! Not only does that touch on us, that we are responsible for our own thoughts and actions, but it also is a great insight on the Sovreignty of God...Jeremiah 29:11 says, "for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future." God has good things in store for those who want to follow Him, but it is up to us whether we obey His voice or not. What is your struggle with the flesh? The flesh wants what it wants when it wants it. The Spirit knows there is a time for everything, and waits and listens for the seasons as they come. The person who walks according to the Spirit of God is at peace, no matter what their circumstances. They do not look to other people to judge success, but they look to God, and to conscience.

"pretty big church!"

Drove by a field the other day with Micheal in the car. He's Mary's grandson, and a cutie at that. Like I was saying, we drove by this field, and Micheal piped up, "if there was a church in that field...." I interrupted, "it'd be a pretty big church!" Then I wondered, what was he about to say? My niece and nephew had asked their dad about what happens when motorcycles get in accidents, if there would be a big fire or not, and later that week there was an accident in that very same spot involving a motorcycle...so I asked Michael to repeat what he was about to say...."it'd be a pretty big church"...nuts. Now I'm curious as to what he was really going to say. Did I put words in his mouth? Sometimes I think kids can hear God better than we can. Maybe we should mark off that field and see what's the next thing to get developed on that land!...Who knows, could be a church!

Sanctity of Life?

Here's a poem my mom wrote:

Sanctity of Life?
Where to begin and where to end
This circle of life, it plays
Like a record with a broken needle
And skips
And skips
And skips
Leaving common sense behind.

Don't step on a crack you'll break your mother's back
But it's okay to kill a fly
Or swat a mosquito
And spray weed killer on your lawn
But wait, the flowers are dying
And fetal alcohol babies are crying,
Their mothers curled up in drunken heaps are lying
In the streets, and we keep walking. On the cracks.
Of the mother's backs.

Good point...

Went over to Chaz and Ashley's place last night for a bonfire. The wood was soaking wet, so the guys decided to douse it in gasoline....that got it going pretty well!! Good fun, it was....brought me back to bonfires at my aunt and uncle's place in Forest, Ontario, where I used to play hide-and-seek in the corn fields.
As we were simply hanging out together, sharing about our hopes/dreams/experiences and struggles, I realized, hey! This is pretty nice...no 'leader', no 'agenda', simply a bunch of friends getting together and being open about what matters to them. This is what the Acts 2 church looked like, all the believers, meeting together and giving to whoever had need...people literally giving of themselves, pouring out of themselves for eachother.
Ashley and I were talking about God, and she said "I always thought Christianity was about having a relationship with Christ, not judging people for what they looked like." Good point. I agree.

Psychology 101

Today we went back to Jenn's highschool to check out the 'pines' area where the smokers hang out. I was shocked to hear that in Bangor they have security guards that moniter the school, and that you needed a pass from the office to go to your car during school hours. That kind of shocked me a little...actually, it shocked me a lot. I remember highschool being a place where teachers would smoke pot with students....not that that's a good thing, of course. It just makes me wonder about the issue of control; at what point does controlling the will of another person become slavery? Is school a place where people are invited to explore facts/theories, or is it a place where we indoctrinate behaviour patterns? How does this translate into church patterns? Do people get together because they like eachother's company, or because it's expected of them?

battle for perfection

I'm still fighting this whole thing about needing to be perfect.
Jesus tells me I'm already perfect, as I'm being made holy.(Heb 10:14)
But still I strive to be perfect.
How can you strive to be something you already are?
"If anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation"
So am I in Christ, or am I just in love with Christ?
Am I walking in full assurance of His promises, and His presence, or am I faltering in comparisons?

"Back and forth, back and forth she goes, where she stops, nobody knows"
I can hear the taunts running through my brain, and I know they are not the words of Christ. The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy what God is doing. He comes to bring doubt, confusion, and division among the Lord's annointed. I will not allow the enemy to run me over with lies. I will not run away from him, but as a soldier will stand face to face, knowing that God is my stronghold, and His faithfulness my shield. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but my trust is in the Lord my God, the creator preserver and governor of all things.

testimony

I've been chatting to a lot of people lately about testimony, and was just remembering how awesome it is to hear bits and pieces of other people's stories of how they met Jesus.
I am also very often put to shame by the vigor and excitement of my comrads who have given their lives over to Jesus as an adult or teen. I can see their fresh fire burning so intensely, sometimes I wonder whether mine is fizzling, or cooling, or just getting hotter....but then that would be comparison, and we are not to compare ourselves to eachother, but only to our Maker and Perfecter, Jesus. He's the only one that will give us the true evaluation of our soul situation.

There are two things I love about Bangor, that not many others share in.
1)my one-day a week at the thrift store
2)driving the van

I love working at the thrift store, sorting and reorganizing other people's trash. It's an endless tedious kind of work, but for some reason I love the torture. (Must be the years of repetitve music training in the background.) It's unnerving the amount of stuff people have in excess in North America. It's easy to sort through someone else's cast-offs, and put it in a save or trash pile. Much harder with my own stuff. It reminds me of my spiritual baggage that I carry around with me...sometimes I need someone else to help me sort through and help me part with some of my sentimental trash I've been holding on to. Good thing I've got Jesus with me. He's helping me organize, minimize, and liquidize spiritual waste in my life, while at the same time uncovering some lost or forgotten treasures.

As for the van, it brings me back to the place I first heard about Jesus. It was at an open-air magic show put on by the Salvation Army corps in St. Thomas, Ontario when I was five years old. One of my mom's co-workers from the Bank of Montreal had invited us to go with her one Saturday, and I got invited up to the front to help out with a magic trick. We found out about a Salvation Army van that happened to drive through our own neighbourhood every week to take kids to Sunday School, and that was how I started coming to church and learning about Jesus. I never remembered much about the van rides at first, other than the fact that if they were never in our neighbourhood, I never would have come to church. One of my first spiritual battles as a child was choosing Sunday School over watching Owl TV. I loved my TV shows, and I loved sleeping in on Sunday mornings, but something about seeing the Salvation Army van pull into our complex week after week was drawing me. Now I know that it was Jesus drawing me. I also know now, that much of what I've experienced in my life of the love and protection and grace of God has to do with the prayers of the saints who were warriors of the most High, fighting on their knees.
Sometimes we overlook the mundane activities in life, and forget that there are huge spiritual lessons to be learned in them, and victories won through them. Lord, help me to find you even in the mundane activities in life, and to turn them into prayer to you. You call your people to be a people of prayer. Thank you for answered prayers in my life and in the lives of those who I am praying for. In the words of Clarice, one of Bangor's fireball prayer warriors, "We love you, Lord Jesus, because you first loved us." Amen.

"maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always." (Hosea 12:6)

sorry for not repenting sooner...

I had a bit of an epiphany yesterday morning. Canadians tend to say "I'm sorry" a lot. Is it that we're apologetic, or that we want people to think we're sorry when what we're really thinking is "I'll do what I want when I want, but if you don't like it, I'm sorry."
Repentance is different from the every day "I'm sorry" bucket-o-wheatabix. Repentance is actually doing a 180-degree turn-around from the things that you know are wrong, and not doing them anymore. Hmmm....maybe I should start saying "I repent" from now on!

"Set them free??"

Today I read an article about an abortion clinic that will abort 2nd and 3rd trimester fetuses. The procedure costs about $5,000USD and involves injecting the infant with a drug that will stop his/her heart. After that, the mother goes through 2 or 3 days of labour pains, at which point she will give birth to the stillborn child. The article shared the stories of three women and their families who decided to terminate the lives of their unborn children "for their sake"

As I was reading through the stories of the internal conflict of these women, the depression and regret that followed in being an active participant in the death of a child, the older siblings who would share some of their Halloween candy with the ashes of their younger brother or sister, the clinic that has a poster that says "set them free" on the cieling...I can't help but cry. One of the mothers said "That's what I'm doing, setting her free into the hands of the angels."

Praying over this, I saw a picture of Jesus cradling all these aborted babies in his arms. They were considered unwanted because the doctors had detected some kind of flaw, or abnormality in their development, or they reminded the parent of some horrific event in their past. Jesus is weeping over all these children, because they were intended as a gift from God. I think of all the children I know who have overcome huge obstacles in their young lives, and all the lessons they taught me.
I think of the perserverance that comes from fighting to live.
I think of the purity of love that comes from one who is forever a child at heart.
I think of the patience that grows, and the joy that comes from little victories.
I think of the families that are brought together unexpectedly into eachother's lives.

I think of the opportunities I have aborted in my life because I was too afraid of the pain or sacrifice that might come with it.
I think of the areas in my life that God is trying to develop in me that I am shutting down because I am unsure what the full development of those things will look like.
I think of all the gifts He has been waiting to give me where I have killed the heartbeat by my lack of faith.

Matthew 18:3 that says "Unless you become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven"

Jesus showed me the little girl I met on Sunday who gave me a huge hug and a kiss right after I met her.
He showed me Jimmie and Julie, my adult cousins who still sing happy birthday to Jesus every year at Christmas time.
He showed me Shian, a little girl who was not supposed to make her first birthday, according to doctors. The last I heard of her, she was celebrating her ninth birthday with her foster family. She does not speak, or walk, but she knows what it is to love and be loved.

Let's all get together!!

This morning we prayed for eachother after pray the Bible...was totally encouraging, and blessed us all which was great! Then one of the ladies from the soup kitchen wandered into the Chapel, but it was like pulling teeth to get her to actually come in the room...I was asking God just the last two days for more people to join us during pray the bible, and then she showed up....Hallelujah! God answers prayer! I can't wait to have an entire praise meeting/pre-lunch chapel for the clients of our soup kitchen. Although many of them don't need the financial support of a meal a day, there's definitely a growing sense of community in the soup kitchen which is mint (Racheal, it was the only word that truly fits, so I'm stealing it- ha!).....now, if only the community were centered around Jesus!!! WOAH! What an awesome place it could be! The clients could even evangelize some of the volunteers! Wouldn't that be awesome??? Jesus knows where the action is, and He's just waiting for us to tune in to His view on things so that we can be excited about blessing eachother in prayer, and coming together for His glory, and the glory of the Kingdom.

Disturbing times

I just read that in Dortmund Germany, they are setting up wooden "sex huts" for the World Cup Games, complete with condom machines and snack bar.
"The World Cup has put us under added time pressure, as we don't want a
situation where prostitutes and their clients disturb residential areas,"
a city official said.

"Its a tragic irony that officials are more concerned about keeping prostitution from happening on the streets than keeping it from happening at all (that is, if they are truly concerned at all). Guess no one ever considered trying to curb the demand instead of enabling it." - Lisa Thompson, Salvation Army Initiative Against Sexual Trafficking (USA HQ)

Turned off or turned up?

I was told I was being 'turned off' by one lady at the soup line, because I asked if she had any family in town...I guess I hit a soft spot for her. It's strange how we don't like to talk about the things that really bug us. Sometimes I'm suprised at my own inability to share things that really matter to me with people who really matter to me. I can get into huge debates with people I've just met, but the ones who know me best (and could probably help the most)I tend to shy away from....wierd.
Take Jesus, for example. He's the one man who is God incarnate. Psalm 139 says that God knew us and formed us in our mothers' womb. He knew each of our days before one of them came to be. He knows what makes us tick, because He created us to tick that way. To some, He gave the tears to cry, yet we are afraid to appear weak so we don't cry. To others, He gave the ears to hear His voice for the people, yet we clam up rather than spreading His gospel truths fearlessly. Whatever happened to "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline" 2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT) Courage, Aurora. Boldness, Aurora. Don't you know that I AM with you always?? Thank you Jesus. Now I'm ready to go out again.

shifting perspectives

"In all educational effort, keep constantly before you the end you have in view, that is, to make your children Saints and Soldiers of Christ." William Booth

I just learned that the Bangor corps recently rededicated the building, relaying it's corner stone. The original engraving said "Dedicated to the glory of God and the Service of mankind".
It now reads "Dedicated to the Glory of God and the Salvation of the world, starting in Bangor."

This is a huge shift in perspective. Too often we in the army would rather service people, than see people saved. It is much easier and less messy to prepare to meet the physical needs of individuals rather than digging down to the root of the issue, chopping out the bad root, and grafting the remaining good stuff onto a firm and secure root in Jesus.

Here's another analogy; Take the example of medication. You go to the doctor because you're experiencing symptoms that tell you you're not well. Unhealthy bodies usually come from unhealthy lifestyles, or a predisposition to ill-health. You can medicate the symptoms in increasing measure so that you are numb to the fact that you are still sick, or you can choose to change your whole lifestyle and start living right again.
Spiritually speaking, it's not much of a suprise to see that we are unhealthy. We were created to worship God, yet too easily we lose focus on Him who we were created to worship, and would prefer to fix our gaze on ourselves. The shift from self to God is the first step to proper health.
("Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His Glory and Grace")

You can't look at something without seeing it for what it is. When you look at Jesus, things start to fall into their proper perspective. He starts speaking to you, sharing things with you that need to change. After that, it is a choice whether or not you choose to follow him or not.
(Doctor's orders....now take up your mat AND WALK)

Impatient

It was Edmund Burke who said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

So then why am I sitting here at my computer while the world goes to hell?

Remain in Me

JOHN 15
"I am the vine, you are the branches....remain in me and I will remain in you."

How difficult it is to remain in the vine sometimes. It's so easy to get caught up in everything that comes up, and enter into confusion and frustration. Today, I was so fixed on hearing a word for a friend that I couldn't hear the words God was trying to teach me. There's a song I just learned since coming here, and these were the lyrics going through my head;

In the quiet of my soul
In the stillness, I hear your voice call.
And I am overwhelmed,
And I am lost for words to describe you.

Jesus you're more than a friend
Jesus you're more than my heart could ever express
Your love and your grace overwhelm me
Your merciful touch always heals me
You bring joy to my soul.