headin out

In a couple of hours I hit the Charlottetown bus station for a 26 hr trip back to St Catharines. I tried to secure a trip to Rochester through Greyhound in the States but it wouldn;t work, so I get back to St Catharines tomorrow afternoon, stay the night, and head out early in the morn and hope to get into Rochester around noon or nearly after on the 31st. Gonna be pretty sweet. But the Holidays went well, I got most of my visiting to people, at least once I seen the majority of them, so thats good. I figure 4 mths goes by pretty quickly anyway so I'll be back soon.

Last night Ryan & Tonya had me out for supper and a movie. A few from the church came out (Jim, Carinne, Amy, Dave & Lindsey with their kids, Kristina). I had picked up a movie on my way (Find Me Guilty), but all it was, was f*** this, and f*** that, and f*** you, and f*** him, so we took it out after 15 min! Ryan & Tonya had recently gotten Black Sheep, so we watched that instead. After that it was gettin late so I cruised back to Milltown Cross and played around with me new cell phone a bit before I crashed. The Sony Ericsson W810i is one sweeeeet phone/camera/mp3 device.

I want to say thanks to all who blessed my time here on the Island the last week. I don't want to start naming people cause I'm bound to leave out someone important, but you all know who you are and what you did. And I know it too. Thanks everyone.

Xmas/06

After a 32 hour trek by train, I land home on PEI for the Holidays. I have a brief 1st meeting with my new nephew Brennan D'arcy Duffy, which he slept through, then I did a bit more visiting. The last couple of days I have been busy catching up with how things have been the last 4 mths. Christmas day I spent the 1st half with my immediate family, then in the evening I went out to Jack & Shirley Ferguson's for another meal. It'was a good day. No snow for Christmas, but today it is snowing. All in all, it's great to see my family and my church family, but I really am cravin to get to St Catharines and get school finished and head overseas. Not a lot has changed on the Island; pretty much same ole, same ole. There has been loads and loads of food. Turkey and sugar galore!!! Everyone is good though. Not a whole lot to report on. T'is been quite relaxed.

In other news, check out this pic of a sign just inside Montague at a drive-in restaurant. I had to stop the car and snap this. In all the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season, we would do well to remember the Believers who are in hostile areas around the world. Doesn't the apostle Paul exhort us to do this very thing.......as if we were in jail with them, etc etc etc?

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! Jesus truly is the reason for the season. Hope you all have a blessed holiday season. Me, I'm home on PEI with family for the next week. I'll post on my first ever meeting with my nephew Brennan later in a couple of days. Till then, have fun enjoying what Jesus came into the world for.

WIBI 3rd Quarter report

Well, well, well. 1/2 of my school year is over, and 3/4 of my WIBI term is done. To say I've learned a lot would be an understatement. It has definitely been a stretching; but what isn't, in this 'christian' life? There are many doctrines that I agree not with, that I've run head on into, here in St Catharines. It gives me a bigger picture, as a whole, of ministry, and the 'christian' world in general. I really didn't expect to disagree with as much as I do here, but it's a growing process and I'm thankful for it. I do know that the Gospel is being deeply embedded in all of us though. It is a beautiful thing. To see some many young 'christians' being able to confidently minister the love of Christ to a lost and broken world. All the little doctrinal differences that are outside that don't really mean that much in the end. It's Jesus, and Him alone, that transforms lives and brings change. The ministry of reconciliation; a calling crucial to understand. How can you minister reconciliation when you don't know what was reconciled? Many christians don't; hence the present situation in the church.

Regardless, I've 4 mths to go in my 2 yr Bible School endeavor. I may have said this before, but "I can't wait to graduate so I can take the next step in getting back to Africa." What that next step is? I can't even really begin to guess. There are many many different scenarios that could manifest in that time, so I will keep my thoughts silent and let God do as He wills. My plans are just that........'my' plans. God has His own plans that often take different paths to get to the same destination.

Back to WIBI though. I don't know if it's an 'age' thing, or a 'priority' thing, but I'm still having a major hard time connecting to and relating to almost all of the student body. I see a lot of carnality; maybe it's just me, but I see it nonetheless. I look back to Holy Given #1 and see the friendships I made in under a month. I look at WIBI and see the friendships I've made over the past 4 months. It's just different. Here is not my home; I know it, and the students definitely know it! The couple friends I've made here are truly awesome people, great servants of God; you know who you are! Alas, my heart is in the 3rd World, literally......it's still over there. And only untill I go back will I really know the depth of my feelings towards the poor, lost, broken, dying, starving, desperate people living there. There isn't a real witness for the poor here at WIBI. Maybe thats why I'm here? Shock and awe baby!!! I guess. Pushing buttons is easy, imparting passion is another thing alogether.

Anyways, I'm off to PEI for the Season. What awaits me there?

exam week

It is indeed exam week. It's not on my mind a whole lot though. I have moved past the point of fretting over marks on exams, and such. It's good to do good, don't get me wrong, but I'm just over it. Things are good though. The cockroach situation has diminished, I think. I havent seen too many since that night anyway. And I leave on friday morning to head back to the Island for a week for the Holidays, and to see all my peeps and family and newborn nephew! Pretty sweet!

The WIBI aspect has been good, ministry wise. I'm still finding it hard to connect with 95% of the students, but things are good. Street ministry has been awesome the last week. I have devised a system of going up to people on the street and asking them if they want to participate in a 'one question survey'; the question being "What does Christmas mean to you?" Its a great opportunity to throw the Gospel in there in a quick and easy way. A lot of people don't want to hear it, but Josh Heymans, Amwy Wallace, and I got into a 1.5 hour talk with this guy in a park a few days ago that was just awesome. We pretty much convinced him in about 10 minutes that he wasnt an athiest! Then we took it from there. Holy Ghost is good. Prison ministry has slowed a little; it being the Holidays and all. But we are believing for great things in the New Year.

To end this update, I'm including a recent video of the SOS Ministry here at NCC. It's aspect is giving away a bag of groceries to everyone who attends a service and doesnt have a lot of money for such things. It's a good ministry with greta people in charge of it. Good times. And remember: JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!!

the Cockroach Chronicles

35 Elma St has cockroaches, it's a fact. I was gonna call this post "We spray, we sleep................they die!!!", but I couldn't get connected to the net last night. That was a quote from Julie Karanfilis, after we returned home from a late night Home Depot run to get cockroach poison. There are quite a few we've seen already; some we've killed, some who've tried to kill us!! Cockroaches are disgusting, no doubt about it! So we doused the areas we thought they were hiding out in with cockroach spray and now we wait and evaluate how it worked. Hopefully we won't have to get the 'terminators' in for a more thorough job. That would kinda suck. It was an eventful .........event, anyway. The cockroaches here are in NO COMPARISON to some I've seen in my accomodations in Mozambique though.


And today is Colin Jackson's birthday; Happy Birthday man. To celebrate, we unloaded boxes of food at the SOS Ministry at NCC, then went out for an overpriced buffet style meal. Who said the Kingdom life was boring? And by the way, all these cases of Meatballs & Gravy that were donated; supposedly they are so bad for you! They don't even put the nutrional content anywhere on the cans! Sketchy? I guess.

35 Elma St

So, I have moved out of the Residence (booo) into a place with a few other WIBI's (Peter, Julie, and Johanna). Good times, great roomates. I'm likin it so far.

Today Josh Heymans and I went to Central Gospel Temple on Scott St not far away from NCC. It was fairly good, no real complaints. Entertaining, for sure. Then in the afternoon, I went with the Faith Circle Group to Niagara Detention Center for a service we conducted. T'was pretty sweet indeed. I shared a little about my past during our second service, and all the prisoners were blessed with song, and cookies, and most importantly, Jesus!

Things are well. School is challenging me in ways I didn't really expect, but at the same time, ways I'm not really surprised either. Half this year is almost over, and there is only 4mths left. T'will be good to get back to the Island for a week or so for the Holidays. So, there it is. Not a whole lot of theological discussion, but t'is good nonetheless.

new look w Holiday colors!!

All right, it took me some time and some headache, but I have changed my blog around a bit. Let me know if you like, or if you no like. I kinda like it; the template is much easier to work with.

Jesus was wealthy (?)

A few weeks ago in Biblical Economics class we were taught on the subject of "Jesus was wealthy". Lets examine this, if we shall.

• An Old Testament sign of the blessing of God was a person's wealth and possessions. And since Jesus walked in the days of the Old Covenant (the New hadn't been instigated yet) it is logical to assume that these blessings would've rested upon Him.
• Jesus' parents had money. They had money for the tax. (Luke 2:4-5) What tax, I don't know. The Bible says nothing of a tax, but maybe history proves otherwise, I don't know.
• They had money for the hotel. Luke 2:7. I'll buy this one. They indeed must've been able to afford a room at the Inn, there was just no room for them.
• They had money to buy a house in Jerusalem. (Matthew 2:10-11) If it was their house, or Elizabeth's house, or someone else's house is up for debate as well; it just says "the" house.
• They had money to travel to another country and live there. (Matthew 2:13-14). I'm not sure. Maybe, I guess. I know I haven't had money for my last trip to Africa, or for Bible School, yet God provided.
• They had money to buy another house in Nazareth. (Luke 2:39-40). Wow, now this is getting to be that Mary and Joesph were not only 'not poor', but they were 'loaded!!!' Once again this is extreme conjecture, in my opinion.
• They had money to start a business. (Mark 6:3) Hmmmm.................sure, if thats what you think.
• They could afford a large family. (Matthew 13:55-56). There certainly was brothers and sisters.
• Jesus was well educated. (Luke 4:17-18). Argument here is that if Jesus could read then His family must've had money to send Him to school cause not a lot of people could read in those days. This is plausible, but can be explained in many other ways. Ok though, not bad.
• He was well dressed. (John 19:23-24). Um, He did have some nice clothes, or, at least, one nice shirt. I recently acquied a nice dress jacket, not even throwing a dollar away to achieve it. Thanks Sam. I wonder if Jesus knew anyone like Sam............likely.
• His ministry needed a treasurer. (John 12:4-6) Indeed it did. There must've been some funds going through the ministry for sure.
• They travelled extensively (food, etc). Yeah, you can argue they needed loads of cash to get around. It's not in the Bible though.
• They financed their own crusades and meetings. Do I need to keep commentating on these?
• He provided for His family because no brother of Joesph came to marry Mary. If in fact Joesph died. I've a couple of ideas regarding Joesph, but nowhere in the Bible or history does it reveal what happened to him.
• He had the funds to buy bread for the multitude. (John 6:5). I'll buy this one. It indeed appears that they could have afforded the bread.
• He supported His disciples and followers. Wow, what scripture did this one come from?

Now, I don't really mean to be critical :), or do I? Nah, not really. Seriously. It makes me wonder where the scriptures like Luke 14:33, Luke 12:33-34, Matthew 13:44, Matthew 13:45-46, Hebrews 13:5, James 4:1-3, James 5:2-3, 1Timothy 6:6-11, Proverbs 23:4, etc etc etc, fit into the picture. Is there a better way? I see much emphasis on wealth in the 1st World Church. The phrase "It's ok to have things as long as those things don't have you" is quoted often. There is a fine line between having things and those things having you! I'll tell you something though. To do all that I believe God wants me to do takes money, and a whole lot of it. Thats the thing though, I need money to bless others, not to accumulate things for myself here on earth, where they will be useless to me in Heaven. Know what I mean? All I give up here on earth for the sake of others will be far and above abundantely supplied to me in the next life, so why bother storing things up here. When you get a taste of heavenly things, your interest in these second rate earthly things is not so great anymore. It's a Kingdom fact. Anyways, I'm sure many, many people will disagree with me, and I'm sure I haven't communicated my thoughts on the subject as accurately as I would have like to, but that's what it is, and that's what I wrote.

......to the point of shedding blood.......

I was just sittin around at home last night and I came across a sermon by Rolland Baker at www.fathersglory.com and it is one of the most amazing things I've ever heard. My whole focus here has shifted and I see what has inspired me so much the last few years. Words cant describe it, cause it is the heart of what Christianity is, not what the church has made it. I wept over and over during and after it; repenting to God about how I had forgotten what I hold most dear in this life. About the thing which gives my life purpose and drive. (As always, dont take me too much out of context. I love my family and friends, etc). Last night I was literally touched by the fire of God, and it's not the awesome, 'cool' thing that a lot of christians think it is. It hurts, it breaks you, it forces you to do what Jesus would do. It burns away your flesh until you die, but it's good; there is a way no other. Watch this if you dare; it's quite a dangerous word.

http://fathersglory.com/media/Baker/051115-Roland_Baker-Dunamis_Now-River_of_Life-Phoenix-AZ.wvx

Abounding in Love

To know God is to know eternal

and perfect love.

His love is spiritual, not emotional.

It is based not on feelings or

circumstances, but on who He is.

God is love and therefore He

loves. He loves because it is His

nature to love.

WIBI or HoGi?

Things are well. We are so blessed here in the west that we don't even realize a fraction of it. It's crazy. So much we take for granted.

I've really been challenged lately, since I met a fellow HoGi here in the Niagara region. I asked myself a question: Am I a HoGi (Holy Given) or a WIBI (World Impact Bible Institute) ?

To me (and that is the key thing), a WIBI and a HoGi are immensely different. I don't want to really share how I think they are different because I don't want people to misinterpret what I mean. I'm not saying one is right/better, the other wrong/worse. But there are stark differences, to say the least.

When you get in a certain environment, you start to take on certain characteristics and mindsets consistent with that specific environment. You become what you learn. If you learn how to do the same thing in different ways, then you go with the one which suits you, who you are, inside, in your Spirit.

With that, I can defintely say that I am indeed a HoGi, through and through, and not a WIBI. I believe a laid down life (where your possessions and 'stuff' are really a hindrance and offer nothing that is really important, in the grande scheme of things) is more applicable to how I think and feel, and what God is molding me into. I like bizarre Spiritual manifestations, prophecy (no matter how wild or innacurate it may be before we learn to hear God better), a life lived in the dirt with the poor, persecution, taking up my cross daily, dying daily to self, worshipping on God's schedule not ours, giving up our lives because God gave up His life for us. "Lower and slower". "All fruitfulness flows from intimacy". "Love the one in front of you". Etc etc.

I've learned more on the foreign mission field in one week than I've learned in western christianity in 5 years!

The self denying mindset, which may have been stifled a bit of late, has roared back to life. It's hungry.

.........................Is it time to graduate yet?

*On a sidenote: it is 17 degrees in St Catharines today; craziness!! And on sunday I went to Westview Christian Fellowship instead of NCC. It was pretty sweet. I plan on going back, fo sho.

Jesus -- A Man for all men

The following has been said about Christ:

He came from the bosom of the Father to the bosom of a woman. He put on humanity that we might put on divinity. He became the Son of Man that we might become sons of God.

He was born contrary to the laws of nature, lived in poverty, was reared in obscurity, and only once crossed the boundry of the land--in childhood. He had no wealth or influence, and had neither training nor education in the world's schools. His relatives were inconspicuous and uninfluential.

In infancy He startled a king; in boyhood He puzzled the learned doctors; in manhood He ruled the course of nature. He walked upon the billows and hushed the sea to sleep. He healed the multitudes without medicine and made no charge for His services. He never wrote a book, yet all the libraries of the country could not hold all the books about Him. He never wrote a song, yet He has furnished the theme for more songs than all songwriters together. He never founded a college yet all the schools together cannot boast of as many students as He has. He never practiced medicine abd yet He healed more broken hearts than the doctors have healed broken bodies.

He is the Star of astronomy, the Rock of geology, the Lion and the Lamb of zoology, the Harmonizer of all discords and the Healer of all diseases.

Great men have come and gone; yet He lives on. Herod could not kill Him; Satan could not seduce Him; death could not destroy Him; the grave could not hold Him.

He is the Christ--the preeminent one; the All in all.

Isaiah 55:8-9

God does things in our lives when we least expect it: when we aren't praying for it, and even when we don't even think we need it. Such is the striveless, easy, fluent life of living in the flow of Holy Spirit. Rolland Baker said last year that the Christian life was an incredibly easy one to live because of how God usually works. Now don't take this whole rave out of context, God does indeed move when we pray, and when we need Him too (sometimes!!) etc. But think of the really influential things that have happened to you, and you usually find out that they happened when you least expect them, when you weren't praying for them, and when you didn't even think you needed them. Such is the life I live, such is the life I am growing in.

Sometimes you don't really know how much you need something untill that need is met. Then you look back and say, "Wow, thanks God." I often struggle with a lack of like-minded people whom I can really connect with. People who are molded out of the same Spiritual background as I. People with the mindset of 'laying it all down for the sake of the Gospel'. There is a freedom theirin that western Christianity is missing, that they are passing by.

OK then! 1. I am now working at Wal-Mart. On my first shift there, 2. I run into Amy Good in one of the isles, who was at Holy Given last summer in Pemba, Mozambique. This was a divine meeting if ever there was. And 3. I was offered a car yesterday if the insurance, gas, etc are affordable to my budget. Now, I did pray for the job, but the others God threw in as freebies. How about that? I don't know what to think sometimes. I do think however, that we're on the verge of something BIG! Holy Spirit is getting sick of waiting for us to come in line with Him. He's already ready, and His soveriengty is irritated and impatient. Who Knows what this will look like?

God takes His stand in His own congregation
(Psalm 82:1a)

on and on and on

WIBI has been going good. The ministry aspect has picked up and that is good. My hamstring is gettin better but not near 100%. The WIBI Bowl may be hard on me!!

So today Kyle, Jenny and I went on the Door-To-Door evangelism deal. Some pics are here to show you our hard work. It was pretty sweet. 'Nancy" was in some need of some leaf raking and we arrived on the scene none too soon. Good times.

Last night, Josh and I went to TACF and took part in Patricia King's Glory School. It was awesome. WE are heading there again tonight for another go at the Glory. It should be a wild time. If you don't know of Patricia King, then you surely don't know crazy!!





Things are going good still, the teaching has been pretty solid and its a good bunch of students. I move the end of the month out of the residence into a duplex with a couple other students. It's a bit more expensive, but its a way nicer place. The rent is going towards supporting a missionary in Indonesia too, so thats some good spendin.



But anyways, I should cruise cause I got to head to Toronto. Oh yeah!!

ouch!!

So yeah, ouch!! I believe I just pulled my hamstring practicing for the WIBI Bowl. And it sort of hurts! Anyways, its all good, I think. The WIBI Bowl is next saturday and its a football game between the WIBI students and the WIBI staff. The students have never won, so we're hopin to change that this year.

In other news, the ministry aspect is goin good. I was back at the Detention Center on monday and met with one of the inmates for about an hour and a half. It was pretty awesome. What a great chance to speak 'life' into guys that normally only have 'death' spoken into them. So that was good.

Yesterday, I took 4 other students out to the community to rake leaves and serve. We went to about 10 houses before someone finally answered the door. They thought we wanted money, but we had to explain to them that we were there only to serve, not to be paid. He was rather delighted, and surprised. So we went to work and raked his leaves for the next hour or so. Good times.

And Casey and I have been working on the NCC Float for the upcoming Christmas Parade. It needs a bit'o'work, so we've been taking a few evenings to work on it. They say the Church always puts in a good showing, so we'll see how she goes.

Other than that, class has been good. We are 1/4 of the way through this year, and it's goin quickly. Soon it will be time to head back to Africa; Hallelujah!!

lots goin on

Yes, there has been lots goin on! I have not recieved a job yet, so all you who voted 'yes' are WRONG!! Sorry. Anyways, I'm still looking. But, my laptop has arrived, but I needed to send it to Gateway for further repairs :(. Whatever though.

I have gotten out of the Overseas Missions Ministry and switched over to Prison Ministry. On monday I went for my first visit to the Niagara Detention Center for a tour of the facility. Quite a spot. Once a week from now on I hope to visit the Center for one-on-one visits with some of the inmates. What a great time and place to minister the love of Christ to broken, hardened (for the most part) people. Exciting stuff.

Last friday NCC hosted LIVE, which was an outreach directed towards kids aged 10-18. It rocked. There was like 3 live bands, a volleyball net set up in the sanctuary, with big screen video games, ping pong, air hockey, gladiator battles, huge twister, basketball, food, smoke machines, and free ipod giveaways. We had about 70 or so youth show up, and a dozen or so got saved, and all had a good time, I believe.

Halloween, NCC hosted Hallelujah Harvest, which was a huge outreach directed towards children aged anywhere between 1 and 13. We turned the cafeteria into a games room where our Bible based action games were a big hit. To end off the night, we gathered the 50-60+ children into the multi-purpose room and Melody Wallace and I presented to them a Gospel puppet show, completely ad-lib. T'was an event, to be sure, complete with the Salvation Prayer at the close. Kids are great at recieving the things of God, it's pretty sweet.

So there are some other things goin on too, but usually just the run of the mill, everyday, stuff associated with the ministry here. Pastor Peter Youngren is in Surabaya, Indonesia right now conducting giant Gospel festivals and seeing amazing things happen. God is good, and faithful.

This month is shaping up to be something really good. There is another ministry opportunity rearing it's head as well, but I wont divulge any details of that one right now. It could be a big one. OK everyone, bye bye. Have a good one.

weekend family visit

Mom and Mack were visiting from PEI the last couple of days. Too bad I don't have my laptop yet cause I got some sweet pictures from Niagra Falls from friday night; twas pretty sweet. But we spent much time just hanging out and cruisin around St Catharines. It was good to have some of the family up for a visit.

Not much has been happening the last week. School is school, and all that. I'm still looking for work, and doing lots of studying, etc. Same old, same old. I'm startin to get to know a few of the students better, and am forging some relationships that will likely last a while, God willing.

After church today, 8 of us went to the Mandarin restaurant for an all-u-can-eat Chinese buffet, with every other thing you could think of, to eat. We were under the impression that it was gonna be $10 each, but on sunday's it's $18.50!!! Are u jokin?!! Good thing one of the other students paid for mine, cause I'm just about tapped. Jobs are good. Anyways...............later.

Having it all, but wanting more!?

In my last post, I related the story of a guest speaker coming to CBC and totally firing me up. I became hungry, hungry, hungry, for God in a way that I didn't know had died off a bit. It was a day of intense Holy Spirit Presence. Anyway, that prompted a response by "anonymous" (by the way "anonymous", I'm fairly confident I know who you are) requesting an explanation of how someone could be full of God, yet want more!? It's a valid question, I guess, for anyone who doesn't know the answer. A fairly foolish one though, for anyone reading this who already knows the answer.

The main gist of it all can be summed up as "More of You and less of me". We are never to behold more of God in us than we already possess. He lives inside us and we can drink from that river at all times. Yet there are times when we don't see all that He has provided for us. We believe He took our sickness, yet sometimes we are sick. We believe that through His poverty we became rich, yet sometimes we are without a penny. We believe that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ, but often we live so far below that. Jesus has provided EVERYTHING for us, yet none of us live to even a thousandeth of what He purchased for us. I don't deny the finished work of Christ, but I'm unwilling to live the normal 'Christian' life I see the Church trudging through. It makes me sick. Salvation is enough, but Jesus wants us to live wih more, with all that He died to give us. That included experience with Him, intimate time in His manifest Presence. Why not?

Whether or not His Presence gets stronger at times, or we just are more aware of His Presence in us, it makes no difference. The presence is stronger at some times than others, bottom line. Being hungry for 'more' of God means I want to be so much more aware, so much closer to Him, and farther from me. "More of Him" means to see more of what He purchased for me manifest in My life.

I know "anonymous" probably has a hundred little arguments floating around, but I care little about them. In fact, I'm done. I'm through with this subject right now. The feelings are too inward to be accurately described anyway. My attempts at it would only prove to be vain. In closing........ Salvation is enough, but it's not all Jesus paid the price for. If others don't want the rest, then I'll take it

feed me

Since Wynne Goss taught us, I have gotten very hungry for a slamming in the Holy Spirit. I realize (again and again) that what I recieved from God is but the tip of the iceberg, and I can't settle for it. It's not enough. Jesus died so that we could experience so much more. We never even experience 1/1000th of what He purchased for us.

I was in prayer a couple of days ago when I disinctly heard the Spirit say, "Don't settle!! Don't settle...... for what I've already done.
It's all you need, but it'not all I want to give you."

That is crazy. In the natural, when you are hungry, there is a feeling of emptiness inside, a kind of raw, gnawing pain, that needs to be remedied before any kind of satisfaction can be realized.
So it is when you are hungry for more of God; there is an emptiness inside you that can only be filled by an encounter with Him, and Him alone. Needless to say, I've been spending a bit more time in prayer; seeking God's direction in a number of areas.

He is faithful, and eager to meet our need.........

5 yrs!!!

5 yrs ago on this day, I became sober. I was saved from a whole lot of things I was held in bondage by. I realized mercy and I realized grace; I realized love, unconditional and abundant. An old man died, and a new man was born...........and here I am

another week gone by.....

Yes indeed, another week HAS gone by. A lot of the past week was me brooding over Heidi's message last friday, and thoughts of Iris Ministries, and the foreign field in general. I'd leave school tomorrow and go back, if that was an option; but it's not. So I decided to call up a dear friendie who is in Mozambique working with Iris, and that did NOT quench the desire to go back at all!! On the contrary........etc etc. 7 more months will slip quickly by, then I can put all my efforts into returning to Mozambique! Things are already in the workings........

CBC is going well. Today we had a guest speaker (Wynne Goss) all day. If you don't know who he is, find out! It was an awesome day of teaching and the Holy Spirit showed up in a big way. And most of the students have cruised to their hometowns for Thanksgiving, so the remaining few are staying here debating what to do. Tomorrow I volunteer at a 'leadership breakfast' at NCC. Should be fun. Then I think I will work most of the rest of the day. Money is still fairly scarce, but God is good. "Lack' is simply NOT part of my life!!

So yeah, thats about all thats goin on with me. Hope you're all doing as well as I am!

Oh yeah, about that Poll to the right: If 2+2=5, what does 4+4=? Well, since I made up the question, it logically would make sense that I make the answer as well, right? So, the answer is 10. Congrats to all who got it right. The new poll asks if you think I will recieve a job at one of the places I have applied to. I applied to 8 places, so the odds are good, if your a betting man/woman.

back from an evening at TACF

Last night was awesome!! If I had my laptop, I would post some pictures. But I don't :(. Anyways, we landed at TACF about 6:30pm, and Ruth Fazal got the worship started about 7pm. After lots of formalities(?), and more awesome worship, Heidi took the stage and laid on her face for another 50 minutes(!) before speaking from John 15:1-11. I love how Heidi completely takes God's agenda (and His alone) when she speaks. It was 10 to 10 before she even preached a word! It was a truly awesome message. We didn't get back to St Catharines till 2am.

I'm kinda choked today, cause the NCC bus failed to come over to the residence to pick us up to head to Toronto for the Truth Conference at TICC. Oh well, I've got things to do anyway, but it wouldve been a good teachings. I guess I could always buy the cd's?

So I started working at an apartment complex about 5 minutes away from Celebration Bible College. I'm not sure for how long, but I'll have work for at least this week, maybe longer, it's hard to say. Money is good though. Hopefully I'll make enough to stay in school hahaha!!!

Everyone looking for some good books to read should have a go at: Eternity In Their Hearts; Kingdom Principles Of Financial Increase (the best book on the doctrine of biblical prosperity that I've come across); and Total Forgiveness. Those are some of the required reading for the courses of World Religions, Biblical Economics, and Christian Family, respectively.

So thats my update, for today. Hope you're all doing well.

Matthew 20:28

Ok, so I promised a more exciting post this time, but it's not gonna happen, I have nothing prepeared. Actually, I just blogged a pretty good one, but the computer crashed and now I have to do it over again >:(. Anyways, I'll get over it. But here's a good tidbit from the "Heart of s Leader course we are doing: "JESUS LED BY SERVING". Get it? Leaders serve. It's crucial. And on and on and on.....

So I havent found a job yet but my applications are in at 8 different locations. A job would be nice, considering that if I want to stay for my second semester, money would be good. I really don't want to have to come back to PEI to work for a ticket to Africa without completing my associate degree first. That wouldnt be cool. But, whatever, its all good.

Speaking of good, this weekend a carload of student are going to TACF to see Heidi Baker preach at a conference. Then early saturday morning, a busload of us are cruisin from St Catharines to Toronto to take part in the Truth Conference at TICC (Peter Karl Youngren's church). That conference deals specifacally with apologetics, which is a sweet subject to study.

So, thats whats happenin. I am also looking for another apartment cause the resdience is not the greatest place to reside. So there you go, some things to pray about for sure, if you feel so inclined. Have a good week.

Looking for a job, I am. I went to a few different nursing homes the last couple days, but no luck as of yet. I should know better, having been in the nursing system for a long while. It often takes a while to get guaranteed hours in that line of work, so I may have to go for something else. We'll see, we'll see.

Classes have been good. Same ole. Been volunteering a few extra hours at NCC, just helping out in the kitchen, or getting all their newsletters (55000 of them!!) enveloped and ready for mailing. There is lots to do. I would like to have some amazing crazy revelation to share with you all today, but the teaching the last few days has stayed pretty consistent with the totality of the finished work of Christ, which is a mighty revelation in itself, I guess. It's a rock solid concept.

In other events, I walk for at least an hour everyday, going to and fro, here and there. The public transit system here is not so great, and rather pricey, so I have chosen to just walk everywhere I need to go. Not to bad, exercise is good, or so I've heard. The weather has been great, at least, yesterday, it was 29!! OK thats it. No more; my next post will be more interesting, I promise.

DESTINY (& predestination)

Mark 4:3-8
1. Your destiny exists as a seed
2. When you are born again, that seed must grow,
a. by praying
b. by seeking God

Currently I am involved in a 'Fulfilling Your Destiny' course. It has touched on the ever-misunderstood concept of 'predestination'. Here is some notes from the course, so far:

God has a perfect plan and destiny for your life, predetermined and predecided before time began.
There is a doctrine of predestination that essentially says, "Whatever will be, will be." Expanded, this means that those who will be saved - will, and those who won't be saved - won't. The theory goes that the choices we make cannot change the course of this 'predestination' because God knew before time began who would be saved and who would not. Further, this 'predestination' offers more than salvation and so life becomes a matter of "whatever will be, will be". This teaching is a perversion of Scripture.
Predestination does indeed involve the concept of a fixed destiny that exists for each person, but as to whether or not a person recieves that destiny is dependant on the individuals life, and upon the choices they make.

A big problem with the english word 'predestination' is with how the english translators translated that word from the original Greek language in which it was written. Don't get me started! Many of the false doctrines that, as a whole, confuse Christians world-wide, are confusing because of imperfect translations of the Hebrew or Greek texts. So much too say, but sooo little time.

To end this post on the topic I planned to start--> Destiny! Here are 6 points that refer to your destiny, in Christ:

1. Destiny is specific and individualized.
2. Religion says, "Die from your destiny and vision!"
3. Jesus says, " Die from your self effort." If we think we can accomplish what God has ordained for us, on our own, we will fail desperately. This is the true meaning of 'repentance'.
4. We are not to wait for our destiny to be fulfilled. We are to discover, and walk in it.
5. Abandon the idea that it is hard to know the destiny that God has for you.
6. Throw away the thought that you must fast & pray for days, and maybe, if you do enough, God will grudgingly let you know His plan for you.

So there you go. Some tidbits from Celebration Bible College, and from Pastor George Woodward.

life at CBC

Things are well; busy. So far I'm enjoying life in St Catharines. The school is going well. Sunday night they had a commissioning service for the outgoing missionaries to Indonesia, what an awesome time that was. When I get better prepared, I'll write these posts out beforehand, then blog them. Anyways, the service was awesome, the missionaries just preached about all the excuses we have for not going onto the field, and they tore those excuses apart!! T'was a thing of beauty.

So today, in the a.m. I was doing a course called Youth Ministry, then in the afternoon I was doing World Religions (today focused on Hinduism, very interesting. My student duty is duplicating all the video correspondance tapes, as well as duplicating the school sessions onto cd. I also recieved my student ministry, which will be helping out with the overseas ministry area. HALLELUJAH!! Thats fairly sweet. So I'll be learning about what is involved in organizing, putting on, etc etc etc a crusade (festival, as we call them) in a foreign country. Nice!

The school is quite diverse, student wise, I mean. Fitting in may be my big challenge. I'm not too worried about it though. My sense of direction has been super strengthened in the brief time I've been here, and it appears it is not going to abate in the least!!

So yeah, next few posts, I'll try to relate a few of the more exciting things that have come up in my class and study time. 5 of us students are on a weeklong hunt to really discover the meaning and importance of New Covenant fasting. What do all you think about it? Why, as New Covenant believers, do we fast? Why? Don't answer too quickly now, the answer is much more in depth than you think. Study it out, then let me know. Blessings all.

St Catharines

So, I have made it to St Catharines and have started my school year at Celebration Bible College (formerly known as World Impact Bible Institute). The first week was good. It's tough to get adjusted and spend all the few dollars you have on buying things that you neglected to think you need before arriving. But, oh well. There are about 66 students enrolled this semester and they seem like a decent lot. It's good to have internet access again. I'm at the public library right now, my laptop remains in Roswell trying to be fixed. Hopefully it won't take too long or be too expensive seeing that finances are TIGHT!!!! But I may be recieving my new cell phone very soon, in which case I will be trying to arrange a plan where you all can call me on a sort of unlimited-recieving-calls type of deal. Anyways, tonight I am going to a missions supper at the church. Niagra Celebration Church sends out missionaries every septmber under their Celebrate Jesus Intl (CJI) banner. So they are having a support supper for them tonight. Should be good times.

So here are some prayer requests for all you reading intercessors:
- I need a job to stay in school (financially) but the job would seriously restict my participation in the unending list of ministry opportunities associated with CBC. For instance, the staff want me to lead an evangelism team of students around St Catharines doing all sorts of Gospel work. So pray that my job wouldn't interfere with these time schedules, or pary I wounldn't need to work at all and that I could totally devote 100% of my off time to the ministry here.

Actually, I think thats my big request. That is my pressing issue in my life right now. How awful it is that finances direct the flow of ministry many times. It makes me sick! Alas, they are needed nonetheless. So there you are everyone. God bless you all, and hopefully now, I will be in steady contact again!

Rochester, NY

And...........48 hrs after leaving Roswell, I arrive in Rochester to visit Jaci for the day. My layover in St Louis was INSANE!! The bus was an hour and a half late, and their was about 250 people waiting to catch a bus that only held about 55 people!! There was 3 other non-official line ups, much cursing between the lines and almost a fist fight. I was among the lucky 55 that managed to secure passage to Columbus though; hallelujah, amen! The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful.

So it's like 5:30am, and I have to jump on another bus in like 3 hrs, to get to St Catharines. The day in Rochester was great. Jaci took me out to her fanilies place where we ate and played 'boucha(?)' or something. T'was good times. Then we came back and I helped her write a support letter for her trip to Redding, CA and the school at Bethel's Supernatural School of Ministry. We finished at like 3:30 am or something outlandish, then raved till now. The last year of our lives has been extremely eventful. She's doin good though, praise God!

Sorry folks, no pics to update. My laptop is still in Roswell, and I'll only be gettin it back when it is fixed. Not really sure what the problem is; whatever it is, it better be cheap to fix. Anyways tomorrow I register at WIBI, and am back in Canada for a spell. Be talkin to ya's soon. Peace out...........

more from Roswell/Carlsbad/Ruidoso, NM

The last couple days have been interesting; oh yeah, interesting! Joy and I cruised around to all the UFO hotspots here in Roswell and stuff. It has been a most educational(?) trip? People cannot believe I came all the way from eastern Canada to spend time in 'Roswell'; that's funny! But it has been good, indeed.

So for my birthday, Joy and I cruised'er 90 miles south to Carlsbad, where there are some doce underground caves with the huge stalagmite stalathitity thingy things? Know what I mean? It was pretty cool................for an hour!! Then it got a little monotonous. But it was amazing altogether. I believe we watched "End of the Spear" later that night. The movie didn't impress me much cause it seemed like they diluted the influence of Christ. It was almost like a compromise so that the movie would be accepted in the secular world. Ah well, wasnt that bad though.

Today, Joy, John Mark and I went to Ruidoso and ate at an amazing place called "Can't Stop Smokin". It had the most amazing pulled pork sandwiches ever!!! Good times.

And I am writing this post from Joy's Apple because my Gateway's screen went :(. Nao bom!! So it's at this guy's place trying to see whats wrong with it. I may not even get to take it back to Canada because it may have to stay here for repairs :(. Not cool. So yeah, pray for my laptop to be healed!!!!............................in the bloody name of Jesu Cristo!!!!!!!!!

But all in all, my trip has been amazing. I leave tomorrow morning for a two-day bus trip north to Rochester, NY where I will spend a day with yet another HoGi before jumping the border into Ontario on the 5th. It was muito bem to see Joy and to just sit with her and rave about God and our lives etc,etc,etc. God seems to move in lives more when you really get hungry for Him.

So yeah; next up.............Bible school. I cannot wait to tear into the Word of God. Can you say hungry? I sure can. And I sure am. So, Roswell....................."out."

Roswell chronicles

So here I am in Roswell, NM. The town of that infamous UFO crash in the late 40's. T'is a funny little place, moreso that it houses a one, Joy Waide; anyways. Yesterday we did some more cruisin and then we watched The Ringer (very funny) last night and just watched the tube, looked at pictures, reminiscied, etc. Good times.

I got up fairly early today and did some 'God-time', etc, then Joy and I called Jaci (Rochester, NY) and I arranged to visit her for a day on my way through to St Catharines. THAT.........is crazy. That would make 4 House #9'ers in this trip. Weird. That in itself, must be a "God" thing. Anyways, that about it.

Check out these pics of Roswell, and there are many more pics of my trip thus far located in my sidebar to the right. I also have some sweet videos in my MY VIDEOS section that are recently updated. Enjoy guys. Till the next time.......................'the truth is out there............'!

Oh yeah, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

in Roswell

OK, 25 hrs on a Greyhound from Nashville and I land in Roswell, NM. I had the worst person I ever travelled beside, on the Oklahoma City-Amarillo leg of my trip. OH MY GOODNESS, I wont get into it, but it was NOT fun. But overall, it was alright.

Anyways, I got into Roswell about 5am, sunday morning where Joy pickes me up and we cruise Roswell for a couple hrs. We go to WalMart and see some crazy alien drawings plastered all over the walls and stuff, funny. I havent seen any aliens, par se, but a few of the crazies at the bus stop in Nashville were pretty sketchy!!

So we go to Joy's home church in the morning and that was pretty cool. Then we eat, and cruise out to Joy's grandpa's outside Roswell. We play cards, then play pool. I represent Canada and beat up Team USA (Joy and John) a bit. Then Joy and I cruise back to Roswell and eat at Chili's (kinda gross), then we have a big ole cruise and rave, then we park and rave and watch an amazing lightning storm. Then we go get ice cream at Wal Mart and call it a night.

Roswell is an interesting place, fo sho. It should be an interesting week. Joy absolutely rocks, and we are gonna have some fun!!

"Nashville................out!!"

Grace majorly slept in today (but,no sweat Grace, I still love you), but when she woke up, we had a serious rave-on. then Omar picked us up and we went and did some hooka (don't ask; you can look it up online) and some great Turkish coffee. Mmmmm, very strong coffee! Then we ate pizza at the Magic Mushroom. After an almost "Oh crap!" moment with my bus pass at the Greyhound bus station in Nashville, we found out that the next bus was like 8 hrs later, at 3am! So we cruised back to Franklin and went to Hilltop, which is a sweet spot located in the hills overlooking Franklin. We set a couple of small fires and started worshipping Jesus when the cops land and start threatening to arrest us all for tresspassing. I totally get the "spred-em" treatment with the whole 'hands behind your back sir' deal! The cops were fairly cool though. They let us go, recommending we take our propoganda to a local park within city limits, which we did. The locals(?) call it MySpace park and we totally meet up with God there. There was worshipping and praise, ministering to people, a wee bit of evangelization, and some God given prayer appointments, etc etc etc. Pretty awesome stuff.

Then Susan, Grace, Omar, and I head back to Nashville and go to Cafe Coco where we engage in more ministry. Jesus loves to heal people's wounds; I love it! Then they drop me off at the Greyhound Stn, and here I wait, ending my Nashville phase, and entering Stage Roswell.

Stage Nashville though was totally amazing. What a giant divine appt, truly. I would absolutely love to visit these saints again.

Seriously though, the cop scene around here is a little out of control. the place is infested. Homeland Security is a wee bit out of hand. I've had more dealings with cops since I left Canada than I've had in the past 10 years!! Crazyness. Anyways, it's all good. Praise God for North America!

last day in Tennessee

Today was a really mellow day. Grace had to work, so I did laundry, went for a walk, watched Crash, and that's about it. Grace came home round 6pm and we headed out with Omar to pick up Chelsea, Kat, and Evan from a worship session. Then we headed for downtown Nashville. We cruised around looking for something to do, looking for a place to eat, looking for a parking spot, etc etc etc. We went to a cafe, then looked for a dance club(?!), then this, then that. The city was crawling with cops. I've never seen the likes in all my life. Even the locals were shocked at the nuber of police around. It was crazy. Then Omar took us to a bridge overlooking the skyline and we went picture crazy. Some of the pictures will follow. But other than that, it's late, I'm tired, and I'm going to bed. I leave for Roswell tomorrow, hopefully the Lord will bless me with as permanent an internet connection as He has in Nashville. And you can see all my Nashville/Franklin/Brentwood/Cool Springs photos, as well as a couple new videos, on my sidebar, under photogarphy. Later.

the battle of Franklin/Nashville 1860something

Today I got a history lesson on the American civil war: battle of Franklin, and the battle of Nashville. Omar picked me up around 2pm and we cruised to the sites of some of the fiercest fighting in the Civil War. Pretty interesting stuff. We went to the Franklin site, then met Chelsea for some all u can eat Chinese buffet. Nice.

After that, we went to Starbucks and met up with Evan and his sister Amelia. Then we cruised to the Nashville battle site. Hung out at the fort site overlooking the once major battlefield. Crazy stuff, when you look into it.

Then we went downtown and hung out at an Arab(?) restaurant for a few. Then headed for church worship at Grace Center. More awesomeness. Grace landed there and then her, I, and Evan drive to the Nashville Airport to pick up Kat who was to arrive from Norway (another HoGi).

My time in Nashville has been great. I leave friday, but I could stay here for weeks and enjoy the company of these great people whom God has surrounded me with. I am humbled by His goodness. Really. A major shout out to Grace (of course) cause she is one of the most awesome people God has ever designed; and also a shout out to Omar, who is already, a proven friend. It all makes me wonder what God has for me in Roswell? And St Catharines? Who can take, and accept, all that God has for them? It really is too much sometimes.