More good times with healings and the rest

Today was amazing. First of all, because we got to sleep in until lunchtime and then get taken out to the Golden Corral again to eat. Sigh, it's a hard life I tell you. That was really the most trivial of all the good things that happened today but count your blessings, as they say.

This afternoon Jack Frost was doing one of his teachings and it was really good. He was talking about the importance of a mother's affection in providing security in the very early moments of life. He shared about how we can end up looking to other sources for comfort and love if we have not felt the love of our parents for whatever reason. God did a lot of deep stuff restoring people who had been hiding hurts for years.

Tonight John Arnott was talking about the importance of forgiveness. Again, it was pretty intense stuff. A lot of people were in tears. There was a girl there who had lost her sense of smell when she was about 6 months old. When she forgave herself for having this problem, God HEALED her! It was amazing. All her life, the enemy had held her in bondage because she blamed herself for not being able to smell. Now that she moved from law into grace, she could receive God's healing power.

The youth group at this church are amazing. I've never seen a group of kids so seriously passionate about Jesus and so raw. Most of them have not been saved for long but they know what life was like before they met Jesus and now they're mental! One of them got in trouble in his high school because he was talking to his friends about something God had shown him. I think it was a poem or something like that. One of the hall monitors gave him a hard time because he was using the name of Jesus in school. The church is going to defend him, though. There is freedom of speech for students in schools so he has every right to say whatever he wants.

The same kid was in trouble again because he was having a bible study in the school cafeteria wih friends and he got drunk in the spirit. He fell over and couldn't get up. Some of his friends were carrying him into class and he got taken to the "narc" who I presume is the staff member who checks to see if you're doing drugs!

I love these stories! God's breaking out in the schools and the kids are so raw and fresh in their faith they don't know how to be religious. They just go nuts, praying for everyone. It's really amazing to watch.

At the end tonight, we had a fire tunnel. Now, to the uneducated I should explain. A fire tunnel involves two rows of people facing each other. People walk down the middle and the people either side pray for the fire of God to fill them up. Some people don't feel or sense anything but a lot of people have really amazing encounters with God through this. Some of the kids were getting really powerfully touched by God and the thing I loved most about it was watching them coming out the end and then running back round, climbing over chairs to get back in for another round. They were so hungry some of them were going through three or four times. It blessed me so much to see the enthusiasm they had.

Daddy, give me that same hunger for you again. I want to be desperate for you like that. I want to be so dependent on you that I feel like a fish out of water when I'm not completely baked in your power. Give me that sense of urgency for more of you.

Daddy big, devil small

Ah, it's nice to get things in perspective, isn't it? We've been having fun in Denver. I tell you, this life on the road thing isnae sae bad. (Lapse into Scottish there) Life mainly involves sleeping, eating, soaking and meetings. I can cope with that. The eating especially is pretty cool since I'm not paying for it! Today we went to Golden Corral which I recall having visited in Utah during my book selling days for The Southwestern Company.

It's funny because we're meeting all these super-duper renewal-type people such as Jack Frost and Peter Dresser and I'm having the most entertaining experiences. Like at lunch today in the aforementioned restaurant. Jack Frost and I both finished our first plate of food at the same time and started to head over to the various options to peruse the tasty choices we could have. I drew his attention to the size of the steaks that were being cooked. (which were HUGE) He then informed me that he's not eaten meat in fourteen years. Woopsie. I don't think he was overly offended but it's not exactly how to win friends and influence people.

In other news, we saw some of the mountains today. The cloud had lifted a bit and we got a chance to go "ooo" and "aah" at various stages of our transience through the day.

The meetings this afternoon and tonight were pretty cool. I was being surprisingly noisy with "hooo!" type sounds. We saw some healings which was cool. One person who testified tonight was someone I had prayed for last night who's pain has completely left her arm. I wasn't the only one praying for her but my share helped! I really want to do more of this stuff. It's not rocket science really. Daddy's big, the devil's small. Ask for what you want and whoopee - there's a healing!

Denver by day

No, sadly there's no pitctures here but at least we've got internet access so I can write in my blog from the relative comfort of my hotel room.

I looked out the window and the first word that came to mind to describe the weather that greeted me was dreich (pronounced dree-ch where the "ch" is like the end of loch) It means it's somewhat gloomy and not so impressive. There's a lot of clouds and it's raining a bit as well. In fact, if it wasn't for all the american flags, I could be excused for thinking I was back in Scotland.

We've had a fairly leisurely day so far. This morning we started off with a breakfast with some local pastors at a place literally "round the corner" from our hotel. This afternoon John, Alyn and I had a bit of a prayer time and a relaxing soak in John's room. Now we're just chilling and waiting to be whisked away on a magical mystery tour to this evening's venue. John asked me to share a testimony at some point this week so I'm pondering what I might talk on. The most likely candidate is the topic of faithfulness.

Remembrance

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

By John McCrae (1915)

This poem is one I've not read fully before now although it's really famous. I've been thinking about remembrance recenlty, since it's only two days until Armistice Day or Veteran's Day / Remembrance Day depending on where you're from.

It's funny how the world's getting smaller. I'm a Scot living in Canada, surrounded by people from all corners of the world. I've met Germans here and had the somewhat morbid thought that if we had been born fifty years earlier, we'd have been forced to be enemies, though we would have no personal grievances with each other. We are truly blessed to live in a time where we have the freedom to do whatever work we want. I just can't imagine what it'd be like to be forced into military service. It's one thing to join the army if that's your choice of career but the thing that always stands out to me about the two world wars was the fact that the majority of these soldiers weren't people who had chosen a career in the army. They were regular people like me. They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The lucky ones were separated from their loved ones for years, only to return home with a head full of nightmares. The others sufferred all kinds of pain, torment and death. It's just such a tragic waste of life.

I'm not saying I'm anti-war. I think there are times when you have to defend your own if you are truly threatened. If we hadn't fought off the German army in the 2nd World War, we would have been taken over and come under the power of Hitler. I have no doubt in my mind that we were right to defend ourselves there. Admittedly, some modern wars are a bit more "grey" in terms of the immediate threat to the average individual. I don't want to get into that discussion here, though.

I just want to say "thanks" to those who gave up their careers, health and lives to protect the future of Scotland, my home. Here's to learning from our past.

On the road with John Arnott!

I don't think I've written about this yet but it's pretty exciting news. This afternoon, I'm leaving to go on a ministry trip with John Arnott! I was totally amazed when I heard he wanted me to go along with him to a conference he's speaking at in Denver. It's Catch the Fire, Denver which I believe will be hosted at New Song Fellowship, Denver. In case any of you don't know - John is the senior pastor here at Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship and he has an amazing anointing and ministry around the world. It's a real privilege to be part of one of his trips.

There are three of us going: John Arnott, Alyn Jones (a fellow Scot, might I say!) and myself. Apparently, Alyn had mentioned in passing to John one day that I had been working really hard on the new Premium Membership section of our website. John then thought it'd be good to take me along on a trip, to show that I'm worth more than my computer skills alone. I was so amazed to be invited - it's going to be great!

I will be part of the ministry team - praying for people and all that good stuff. I hope we get some healings. I like healings.

I Can Only Imagine

Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still?
Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine

From the song I Can Only Imagine by MercyMe.

We did this song recently in worship and I really love it just now. It really captures the contrast of how we would want to respond to our first sight of Jesus balanced against the holiness and amazing intensity of that moment.

There's a video of the song available on Yahoo! Music. I recommend you check it out. (For some reason, it doesn't work with Firefox which is a bit unfortunate. However, you could always fire up Internet Explorer this once, couldn't you?)

The World Names The Dead on Election Day - Global News on the World Crisis Web

The World Names The Dead on Election Day - Global News on the World Crisis Web

I found this to be an interesting article. There are people all over the world saying it's maybe time for the US to call it quits in Iraq.

Structure of a Phone Conversation

I was talking to Drew last night about the structure of a typical phone conversation. I had thought this through a while ago but I suddenly realized this could be quite blog-worthy so here goes...

The basic structure of the call is as follows:

1. Preamble
2. The Point
3. Post-amble
4. Re-iteration of The Point
5. Goodbyes

Depending on the individuals concerned, preamble and postamble can be short or even non-existant. An example of this would be The Point ending with "okbye", often experienced by those arranging plans with Drew in a hurry over the phone.

If the parties concerned are of a more conversational disposition, however, pre and postamble may be fairly lengthy, creating a need for #4, the re-iteration of The Point. Such a call might go something like this:

Person A: Hey man, how's it going?
Person B: Good, good.
(Start of preamble)
Person A: Cool. How are tricks - did you have a good weekend?
Person B: (Talks at length about weekend)
(Start of The Point)
Person A: Nice one. Well, anyway, I was calling to ask if you're up for catching a movie tonight. Some of us are going to Colossus at 7.
Person B: Yeah, sounds good.
(Transition to post-amble)
Person A: Cool, it'll be good to catch up. Hey, did you see that other movie with that guy...
Person B: (Talks at length about movies, life and whatever else)
(Person A starts running out of time and transitions to re-iteration of The Point.)
Person A: Cool, ok so I'll see you at 7 then?
Person B: At Colossus?
Person A: Yeah, for the movie.
Person B: Oh, yeah. Right. OK, I'll see you then.
(Goodbye phase)
Person A: See you then, then.
Person B: Cool, bye.
Person A: Bye.
(End of conversation)

Now, I could have gone on to the extended goodbye version where there's a considerable amount of back-and-forth before the phones are actually hung up.

Also, I've not even got started on phone conversations where there is no point in the first place. I like to think of such calls as "pure amble" for obvious reasons.

With some cell/mobile calls, you can add the "where are you?" clause to the start of the preamble. That was always a favourite in calls I heard on the train back in Bonnie Scotland.

Do you have any thoughts of amusing phone call foibles and anomalies? Do comment, do comment...

Feeling a bit better

You'll be pleased to hear I'm feeling a bit less miserable than I was the last time I wrote in my blog. My feelings are back and life is all together more interesting again. It's funny, not much has really changed in the sense of my day to day routine and the activities I'm involved in. I've just found my peace again. I suppose that's the key to coping with anything.

I think that part of the cause of all this was the extreme amount of work I did for the Premium Membership project at work. I really put in a lot of extra hours to get everything finished on time. After it was all over, I was so detatched from life outside of work that I felt very disconnected from the world.

I found a verse that spoke to me during this time. Its relevance may not be instantly obvious:

A faithful man will abound with blessings,
But he who makes haste to be rich will not go unpunished.

- Proverbs 28:20 (NASB)

This reminded me to faithful, even when things all around aren't changing that much. God's not passing me by here. This is just a slow phase I'm in right now. That's ok.

I need to say a big "thank you!" to all my concerned family members who wrote encouraging e-mails after reading my previous post. Mum, Dad, Alison, Auntie I - I love you all! Thanks so much for your encouragement. It's good to feel loved! I'll hopefully be able to write to you via e-mail soon and I'll see you all at Christmas.

Nothing

Nothing is what I feel. I am a spectator, largely unaffected by this world around me. The alarm goes off, I stop it and turn over. Eventually I'm in the office and for about the next 8 hours I know what I'm about. The program gets written, the bugs get fixed. I go home and become a spectator once more.

The world passes by, years as a heartbeat. The view from the window changes a touch from season to season. The leaves are born and in no time at all, I'm trampling them into the ground. The cycle continues.

You never plan for life to become mundane. Somehow you just wake up one day and wonder why you should bother.

I believe in God, in his plan for my life. I believe the expression "life in all its fullness" is supposed to apply to what I'm experiencing. The problem is that it's not my experience just yet. I wish for that day. Until then, it's another day at the office. As a friend wrote:

"Look at me sick of the same old,
Look at me cling to my routine" -Jeff Snyder

This is just passing, but it's where I am just now...

TACF Premium Membership

I forgot to mention that the new Premium Membership feature is now up and running at good old www.tacf.org.

This is the project that I worked my rear off to finish in time. We had a few problems along the way but everything's pretty much working now. We still have some problems with people not getting their confirmation e-mails which is an annoying thing to try to fix. It works for some people but not for others. I hate bugs like that - the ones that are so intermittent.

I'm currently working on a really peculiar bug in the Revive TV section. It seems my LinkButtons are just not firing the event the way they're supposed to. This is very frustrating...

Applied for Permanent Residence

You may or may not remember that when I got my new work permit back in June, I made a remark about immigrating as a skilled worker. Well, today I finally got round to sending off my application to the office in London. Hopefully everything will go well (and quickly!) and I'll be able to stay here as long as I want. That'd be a huge thing off my mind. I could finally move all the rest of my possessions over here without fear of having to send them back to Scotland again.

Hot Apple Cider?

With the weather getting colder, I popped into Tim Horton's a few days ago to get a drink of Hot Apple Cider on my way home. It reminded me of an unusual thing I noticed about my local neighbourhood Timmy's...

One day you might be able to go in and order Hot Apple Cider no problem. Then a week later, you'll as for it and they'll say "We don't sell that." They don't say "We've run out", they look at you like you've just tried to order Filet Mignon. It's so weird! I think they're trying to trick us into thinking we imagined the whole thing. I know the truth, though. You can get Hot Apple Cider from a Tim Horton's! Don't listen to their trickery to the contrary!

The end of "sandals" season.

Yes, it's a sad day and with a heavy heart that I write this post. It seems that my sandals will have to be put to one side in the near future, pending better weather. I was working late last night and as I walked home at 10:30pm, I couldn't help noticing my breath on the air and the rather numb sensation creeping across my toes.

As I passed the Toronto Congress Centre, I was informed by the big (and somewhat superfluous sign) that the temperature was 6 degrees Celsius. Of course, as I mentioned before, it's quite possible there will be a danger of heat exhaustion today, knowing how schizophrenic the weather can get around here.

Blue Mountain, here I come!

I bought my new Night Pass for this winter at Blue Mountain, at a reasonable $94 + GST. I'm a bit disappointed about the GST. I'm pretty sure that wasn't included last year. I used their rather handy e-commerce site to buy my pass. I was able to re-use my photo from last year (so I don't need to get a new photo taken) and for an extra $10, they're mailing my new pass out to me (so I don't even have to line up to collect it.) When I get there on the first day of the season, I can go straight to the lift!

I'm so excited about this season. I was just starting to have some fun with ollies last season and I want to try some more. It's so much fun. I love snowboarding, but not as much as Hanna or Jesus. (ok, that was cheesy)

Seasons? What are they?

You know, I think it's true what they say about Canada. It's like there are two seasons: Summer and Winter. The thing that I just realized recently, though, is that the changing of seasons is like the switching on of a floursecent tube light. It flickers a bit and then makes up its mind to change. The weather seems to say,
"summer..winter.summer.summer.winter..summer-winter...winter.oh, wait summer summer...oh, all right winter winter winter."

Home for Christmas

Yesterday I booked my flights and I'll be heading home to Bonny Scotland for just over a week in December. I arrive on the 22nd of December and head back to Canada on the 30th. Hopefully in between times I'll be able to catch up with some friends & family in the Glasgow area. It's funny, my accent always gets stronger again when I go home...

Blogs vs. Work

Man, it's been a crazy couple of weeks. There's so much work to do for the premium service with tacf.org that I've barely had time to think about blogging. Things are going well, though, and hopefully all will be working in time for Catch the Fire.

New Look

New Look
Originally uploaded by theken.

I felt like a bit of a change on Monday so I spent Labour Day shaving my head. I've had it shorter before but I think my skull's changed shape since then. It seems a bit wider now. Strange how that happens. 

Brisket and Biscuits

So, I'm in Texas by the way. Thought I should have mentioned that. I'm on a training course in "ASP.NET Programming using Visual Basic". Very exciting it is, too. The trip, that is. The training is ok but I know a lot of the stuff already. The coolest thing is how I got here...

My super-duper boss, Russ, encouraged me to find some training to help improve my VB knowledge since I've only been really good with C# up till now. I found a course in Mississauga (near Toronto for those not in the know) and signed up for it. The company then had to cancel because there weren't enough people signed up.

Now, here I am in Dallas, courtesy of the training company! I got free flights and a rather nice hotel suite for the week as well. Sweet deal - God is good!

The only catch is that I'm away from Hanna and it's killing me a bit. Still, it's Wednesday evening now and so we're past half way. We'll be together again in no time!