Yes Please

Romans 11:33-36

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable His judgements,

and His paths beyond tracing out!

"Who has known the mind of the Lord?

Or who has been His counsellor?"

"Who has ever given to God,

that God should repay him?"

For from Him and through Him

and to Him

Are all things...

To Him be the glory forever. Amen

A God Moment

I had the chance to stand up for my buddy Stephen at his wedding in Rosemary, AB a couple weekends ago. I wasn't looking forward to the drive out, a solo mission; but knew at the same time that it would be good for me. It was. I'm going to keep this short. While I was driving, I remember coming up out of a little valley and cresting on a hill. I can't describe everything that was going on; I suspect to fully appreciate the plains you have to grow up farming them or something. Still, I lived in Saskatchewan for a few years, and every time I drive the prairies a nostalgic love courses through me. Driving from Calgary to Saskatchewan meant meeting friends; driving the other way meant going home...Either way, the drive is good. Anyways, I was coming up out of this valley, and there was a flock of birds flying about 100 meters in front of my car in the sky. The sky itself was a great blue, touched with the type of clouds that look like God didn't have a ton of paint left on the brush...my favorite. There were wheat fields on either side as far as I could see and not another car in sight. I was coming towards a train bridge which a train was crossing over...I couldn't see the end of the train in either direction. I haven't been overwhelmed by a moment like that in so long I forgot what it felt like. You know those quintessential moments where it feels like you are the only one on earth, and God is just letting you see Him for who He really is? Creator, Lover, our Glorious...Majesty. I hope that's what heaven is like.

Breathing In

I ripped out a kitchen in an old area of town today. Behind the cabinets the walls were rotted and full of filthy black mold. When I went to detatch the sink from the plumbing the most putrid smell came from the pipes I've smelled in a long time, and I'm a guy who lives on my own. I should have done that last, but i decided to do it first, and consequently had to rip out the rest of the kitchen while enduring this awful emanation. When I was done, I walked upstairs into the fresh air, and took a deep breath. It was a deep, meaningful breath. It felt good, I loved the air and the way it didn't meet me with anything but its pure self.

I've done alot of thinking these last few weeks. Alot of crying, praying, singing and crying. Thoughts like the one I had today don't mask pain for me or anybody. There is some comfort, however in the true realizations that the spirit touches us with when we most need them. I was reminded today that after the last breath that a lover of Jesus takes on earth comes the first breath of the purest kind...the breath of the most meaningful kind. The breath where we meet the living God face to face and his presence reaches deep into our being, into the very capillaries which translate breath into blood and sustain us...We breath God, He becomes our breath...We live.

Miss you Bro.

Boo Yah

Hey homies.
Thanks for all the comments on my last post. Talking with my buddy Gord Mills about the post, I realized the last line of it may not be as theologically sound as we would all like it to be. I should clarify that it was more of a joke than anything, I don't actually think that i'm in charge of judging the size of anyone's mansions in glory, or that that will even matter there at all. I guess it wasn't funny ha ha...but just to clarify.

I Chose Paris, God Chose Iris

Hey dudes...

Today I was at a friends place and he showed me a DVD about an orphan aid project just outside of Capetown in South Africa, I think called the Jerusalem Project. At the helm of this deal is this really beautiful overweight old lady named Iris. They interview her, and one thing she said stuck out - when asked what drove her to give up her house and job to take care of a huge amount of orphans, and what drives her to still do it, she says: "I don't know...I have no figure, i'm not smart...it's just a call"...In other words, what she's saying is - I'm not cool by the world's standards, but i've been called by God, and thats enough for me...

Heres why that rocks my world. I have no doubt that anyone reading this knows that Paris Hilton is in jail, most probably know that shes getting out this week. Isn't that awesome? We've all heard of Paris Hilton, who is famous for being an idiot, and has made tons of money doing it, but no one has or will ever know about Iris, a real hero, who is taking care of about 100 kids by herself and has given her life to do it? Maybe this is what Paul is talking about in Corinthians about the cross as foolishness...about imitating Christ and following after guys and girls like Iris who are losers by the world's standards...The idea that following Christ might mean you wont be famous isn't a new one...I doubt Paul was an extremely cool dude himself sometimes (that comforts me by the way). Friends, it's all backwards, and i'm starting to think thats what the message of the cross sounds like to people sho don't understand it.

Iris, if you ever read this, which you probably won't; please save me a nice guest room in your mansion when we get to heaven.

Facebook Made me Do it

Sorry Peeps. Lets be honest here, cause thats what this is about. I've failed the blogging world, and i'm not going to make any excuses for my lack of responsibility (like that I was in Italy or without internet for a month or working...) Lets face it (see what I did there), its facebook's fault. Nobody probably even reads this thing anymore. If you do, give me a shout and ill keep posting. Actually Ill probably keep posting regardless. Moving on.

The last while has been good. Italy is fantastic; I highly recommend it, but not if you want a relaxing time - there is just too much to see. A highlight for me was in the South, a little town called Sorrento just south of Naples. Kathleen and i found a nice little campground and set up shop for a while there. It was good. Wherever we went we seemed to run into Dora the Explorer, as you can see I shared a laugh and a drink with her one night, and then we ran into her in Rome as well. Her keen sense of direction and knack for finding the coolest spots came in handy. Well, I better go, life seemed to smack me in the face with stuff to do as soon as I got back - let me just say that our Church has a retreat this weekend, and I am looking forward to relaxing and reading my Bible.

By the by, I promise not to slack off like that again. Secondly, check out the band's myspace...www.myspace.com/circleand8th