Videos

So I am figuring out how to post videos and such and have been sifting through my files when I came across some videos that I made for my good friend, Dan on his birthday this year. He was in London, England at the time. This one made me laugh...I guess I was trying to be creative? Haha. If at least one other person laughs at this it will be worth it.

WAY LATE (Christmas photos)

Sorry these are exceptionally late, but I hope you still enjoy some shots from my wonderful Christmas holiday...
So there are pictures of mom, dad, Joel, Josh, Jenn, Dan, Riley (the little kitty..."You're a little kitty!") and Matt Rawlins.
Rich times.
Oh, and as per usual, you can click on the photo to make it larger.
ENJOY!

And p.s. I absolutely love the last shot with Josh wearing my sunglasses. Yunnie.


p.p.s. "But the qvestion is ver is Yahveh?" (another inside, I know...)

Good Post

I encourage you all to check out the Community in Mission blog. Anthony and Andrea are stellar soldiers in the fight and have some really decent things to share. I particularly like the Feb. 17 post and if anyone sees Steve Court, recommend that he read it (that's a bit of an inside, I know).
Grace.

Oh, and Anthony and Andrea - bless you greatly! The LORD is using you well and you are always an encouragement and an inspiration.

A week of Highs

This week has been fantastic!
Let me do some re-capping...
Thursday night at kneedrill I was leading worship and the Holy Spirit blew us all away. Wow. There was so much energy. All I've got to say is that I played until my fingers bled...literally! Praise the LORD!
Friday night at ExPRO I got this big donation from Starbucks (since it was right after Valentine's Day) or cupcakes, so we did a bit of a "taste and see that the LORD is good" prophetic act thing. We gave out cupcakes and prayed for people and gave the words from the LORD. Lots of good testimonies from that night.
Then this weekend I was a part of a brigade that went to Langley to lead a service there. I went mainly with people from the Revolution session (Jeremy, Matt A., Dawn, Holly, Stephanie, Xander and myself). Everyone did really well. So proud of them - articulate, moving, and humble.
Then Squad (accountability) on Monday was fantastic. Great time of prayer and building each other up.
All in all - what a blessed week. Hallelujah.
On more of a comical note - on Tuesday night around 9pm I was going to make some dinner so I put to pieces of bread in the toaster, pressed down and after, probably less that 2 seconds, a mouse jumped right out of the toaster and ran away. Gave me a bit of a shout, but I guess I was toasting his tail. Funny now, not so much IN the moment.
Glory to GOD.
Tomorrow (Thursday) is my midterm. Would really appreciate all your prayers. Thanks so much,
Grace,

Rest for the weary

I had a beautiful encounter with a woman I met on the streets during Nightlights this week (our ministry to prostituted people in the downtown eastside). My friend Olivia and I were able to convince her to not "work" for about an hour and come hang out with us, get some soup, just relax. Her name is Nancy, and at first she wasn't very welcoming to us but I felt the LORD nudging me nonetheless to go and talk to her. So I sat down next to her and we just started to talk. It was very interesting because I was actually able to see things through her perspective while sitting with her. The cars rolling up, people ignoring her when she speaks to them, old "clients" and stories she had to share. She eventually opened up to us and I am always shocked and broken to hear new stories from these women.
God bless and protect Nancy.

This week the LORD has really been bringing things up in my life. Aaron alluded to some of that in the comments from my last blog. God's been showing me that I am not alone, and that I need to really as in not just pay it lip service, but really embrace the heart of the YAHWEH for "the last, the lost, the least" as the Sally Ann always says.
It's really easy to make excuses, at least for me it is. But the LORD knows all and sees all. Kind of scary, but also comforting at the same time. He sees a heck of a lot of pain, but also holds the keys to freedom, gives an abundance of hope and grace, and best of all He doesn't show partiality. It is offered to all.

"Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink - even if you have no money!" - Isaiah 55:1,
"The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." Let each one who hears them say, "Come." Let the thirsty ones come - anyone who wants to. Let them come and drink the water of life without charge." - Revelation 22:17
"Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light."" - Matthew 11:28-30
The invitation is open.
Let's join together and tell those in despair that there is hope. Those that are blind that they can see. Those who are hurt that we know the Healer. Those who are lost that we know the way back home. Let's join, please. We are part of a family and our brothers and sisters are lost and need to come home. Will you go?

I am just one person

Today I had a bit of a rough day. One of those necessary days, but also a hard day.

Today I had a conversation with someone that was very sobering. We were talking about some major issues in our world – child labour, sex slavery, world hunger, abortion etc. and I started to weep when thinking about how all of this is going on in the world, how most people do know about it and refuse to do anything. I lump myself in that group. I have definitely partnered with apathy before. I was just repenting and it made me weep more.

Even if there were big signs of children in sweatshops posted up in front of Nike, people would just ignore it and walk in. We know that those sad commercials with belly-swollen babies in third world countries are quickly turned off and back to a much easier channel to cope with. These big signs at ProLIFE demonstrations are jarring and hard to look at but people disassociate what they are there for, they dismiss it.

When talking to my friend I realized that it’s much harder, in this generation, to “preach to the masses”. I don’t even mean anything Christian, per se. Environmentalists, Human rights activisits, whoever. What would it take for the mainstream to listen to a “radical” voice? There are these really comfortable labels that are put on people with ideas that threaten this numbing normalcy.

I was weeping because I realized that most of what I do is probably labeled “mercy” as oppose to “justice”. Don't get me wrong, mercy is good...it's great. It's a fantastic thing that there are volunteers at rape relief, and that there are people rescuing children from being sold into slavery. That's all amazing. But who's going to stop people from raping others? How is the demand ever going to be lowered in the sex trade? If we offer post-abortion counselling, yet do nothing to prevent the genocide....

Ahhh... so much. I just weep. So much hurting in this world. So much. And I guess I realized that there's not much that I can do as an individual. What will it take to seriously get people to wake up and make a difference? To be a revolution? I am just one person. I believe that God is good. I believe that God is calling His children to rise up. I don't really have a wrapping statement to finish this off. I still feel a bit unresolved, but am okay with that for now.

Children of Men

Tonight I went to see "Children of Men" with my friend from the war college, Ian.
This film is powerful. It brought up a lot within me and I was stirred as I watched. There was this scene where there was war all around - shootings, violence etc. Suddenly a baby crying and everyone stops. All guns, on both sides, are put down, everyone stares in amazement. No sound. Just the baby crying.
I started crying a bit (of course) as it made me think of two things. 1) Christ in flesh appearing - Christ incarnate. To a world that needed a Saviour, He came as a helpless and defenseless babe. Pure, precious, innocent.
2) That often we, as humans, try to end war with reconciliation, and methods of peace etc., which are all good and well, but it reminded me of the power of purity, innocence and hope. I've heard it preached before that to be life amidst a place of death is powerful in itself. I believe this. I wouldn't be here in the Downtown Eastside if I didn't. Christ in us is the hope and glory.

So after the movie, we were walking back into our neighborhood and we see this guy outside of the Shaldon hotel, on the worst trip that I've seen since Cheryl (Denise will remember this well!). We stopped to talk to him and were quickly escorted away by another man. Fair enough, he was trying to protect us. He left, we prayed for him and then went back to our struggling buddy. He was doing a crazy crack dance. I started to talk to him and found out that his name is Robert. He wasn't the best at holding down a conversation, so in between Ian and I would pray, or speak in tongues, or just recognize the LORD's presence there in that moment. About 45 min. passed before we left. Despite the fact that whenever we said the name of Jesus, even under our breath, that he growled, did not stop us. We stood there peacefully, calmly praying and trying to embody this peace that he desperately was seeking.
After leaving him I saw a prostituted person about a half a block from my place making a deal with this man.
I came home and wept.
Christ in us is the HOPE and GLORY. Let us grasp this life in a dying age, let us hold on to Jesus, who is the Prince of Peace, amongst the chaos around us, and be 'Jesus with skin on' as someone once said. Amen.

The language of Loooooooooove

So much to write about that I don't know where to begin...
So instead I will share with you the results of a test I just did

Complete set of results

Quality Time:		10
Physical Touch:		7
Words of Affirmation:		6
Acts of Service:		4
Receiving Gifts:		3

This has actually changed over the last year and a bit. Or maybe I've just had a deeper revelation of the person that God's made me to be. If you want you cantake the quiz too.
It's important to know how to love others and how to communicate to others how you receive love as well.
(This all reminds me of my dear friend, Achlai, and the time we were all in Tim Horton's by McGill laughing about this stuff. )

I actually think that these tests are misleading as well. I mean, they all pressume intentional acts of love. If I knew that someone was doing something to intentionally show me that they loved me, then that in itself would seriously blow me away.
Whether that be hanging out with me or doing my dishes.
A lot of it is motives, right?
Someone could hang out with you out of some sort of moral obligation, or make your bed so that they can feel better about themselves. This is all very Kantian, but needless to say that if we all loved each other intentionally I think we'd be able to really see things more clearly. To 'love your neighbour as yourself' - with a pure heart and pure motives.
Again, I agree that within these five there are preferences, but the root of all of this is probably the assurance that the person is truly expressing these things out of love.
Yeah?