Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Where Do We Go From Here?

Last night at our men's group there was much discussion about the state of things with men in the church. (I mean church in the sense of the Body not just our local chapter)It has been troubling to see the assault on all things men in our society. Even more so it is troubling to see the effects that this attack is having on the faith of so many men. The view of men that we are constantly bombarded with is one where the male of the species has just emerged from the primordial ooze. He then wanders off aimlessly scratching himself and looking for the nearest tv and/or porn site so that he can satiate his single cell grey matter.
We are constantly told that we need to be more like women, either directly or subliminally. Women, we are told, are the fount of all wisdom and the wellspring flowing from the center of the goodness of humanity. (I hope you can read the sarcasm between these lines) Men are everything that is wrong with the world these days, we are told. Things that could be considered manly are sidelined as spurious affectations of beer-addled minds. So everytime I go to a worship time I go to a place where only the more feminine emotions are given free reign. This is not entirely wrong because I need that realease of intimacy, but it is also not entirely right, either. As a man there are deep and dangerous emotions and needs that range through my soul and spirit which hunger for expression. Aggression, war, anger; a thirst for adventure, challenge and danger; a desire to protect, and others all find their place in me and in my God. It may be as difficult to read this partial list as it was to write because the training we have recieved tells us these are all bad things. Things which can be eradicated with the right amount of prayer and fasting. These are all things that stem from some sort of root issue or another.
The overall effect of this has been to castrate men at the root of who they are and to withhold their God-given authority. It is the same effect achieved by Jezebel, wife of Ahab, king of Israel. She tore apart his manhood and left behind a simpering bucket of mush that probably could not look you in the eye. Through manipulation, subversion and sex she effectively emasculated this man. Of course he had a role to play as well, because he allowed it to happen. He gave up all God meant him to be and became less than.
I love the picture in 2 Kings 9 where Jehu rides up and sees Jezebel in her window. He then orders the eunuchs to cast her down from her perch. The eunuchs; the emasculated ones. It's not the ones with power who lay hands on her and cast her down. The symbolism is rich because it shows two things. Firstly that one man with the passion of God in his heart can make an incredible difference. (Note: Jehu was annointed and commanded of God to do this, it was not his own whim) Secondly it shows that there is opportunity for those who have faltered to rise against those who have captured them. Eunuchs were of course commonly employed to serve queens and other royal women thus preserving their sexual purity as well so the image here is strictly symbolic.
There is an awakening that will happen amongst men. Not one which has us picking daisies and watching the Sound of Music, but one which will turn our hearts, as men, to our children. One which will release the potency of the Father to our children and return to us the hearts of our children.


Can I hear a RRRROOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!??

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Wow

Wow, I guess standing for something sure can leave you hanging. According to the stat counter, this has become a very unpopular site. Oh well. I'll still keep blogging for your visits ma :) .

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Jimmy MacDonald On The Morn' Of Gay Marriages

Jimmy MacDonaldThis post was started quite some time ago after the airing of the final "Jimmy MacDonald's Canada" on CBC. There were 6 or 8 programs aired and they showed Jimmy getting more and more 'prudish' and pissed with what he saw going on in Canada.
I apologise for not finishing this sooner, but I actually took pen to paper to write the original and it has taken this long to get around to typing it out.

We are mocked publicly. On our own nation's channel, touting what is supposed to be our own Canadian view. Yet all we are presented with is a "mockumentary" of a ultraconservative view of sex. I cannot help but wonder if Mr. Martin's Canada would have aired this particular episode had his morally slanted legislation failed to pass. Some may say that I am going over the top here, but as a Canadian Christian I am tired of it. Tired of the thinly veiled mockery. I say let the lines be drawn and the arms be taken up. Now, for shit's sake, don't be thinking I am talking about AK47's at dawn or even open spewing of rants against homosexuals and others. This is about the passion which filled Phinehas' soul when he pinned the Israelite and Midianite woman together with his spear.
Have we forgotten this passion!! Again I say, for shit's sake this is not about violence in the flesh, but it is most assuredly about kicking some spiritual ass instead of taking it up the C-38. Have we forgotten the prisoners? Have we forgotten the war in exchange for pronouncing a misplaced peace? Do we say peace to the sin so that the sinner may be received, or do we kick sin's teeth in to free the captive? Remember that after Christ finished cleaning house with the pharisees that His apostles laid siege to the Gentiles giving them the same message of personal change (to put it lightly). We are so busy calling passion 'religion' that we have forgotten the purity with which our hearts were branded at the start. Perhaps the tip of Phinehas' javelin lies near our heart and it is easier to turn it aside in a mockery of holiness than to allow it to run us through, pinning us to the ground with our notions of love.
Now, before you go off thinking I am some superspiritual, always saved, overchurched, prude please understand this is so far from the truth. I have run in the night which casts its shadows on my heels. I have made my deals with the devil in the torment of loneliness. I have cried war on the heavens of brass. I have not forgotten.
What I remember most is the intolerable weight which finally crushed me. It wasn't easy love, which was offered at times. It wasn't an easy out which always slammed shut in the end. It was an offer of a place to lie down; finally. A place to stretch out in peace. A point of finally receiving the nails that would keep me there. It was a view of the sky that received my Christ from a bloody cross. The weight I had felt all along was love and mercy, and it ceaselessly crushed me till I allowed the nails to plunge through my flesh.
Let us never pray off the weight of the sweet cross of Christ.
cross_2
Let us never stop the blow of the hammer. Let us never turn aside the blows of the scourge. Let us never fail to be at the tomb to unwind the graveclothes. Let us never fear to let them fall.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Times They Are A-Changin'

Well it has been over a year since our return to Canada from China and the time of transition is not even nearly over. It is something that we thought would be simple and not nearly so profound. We also thought that we would be prepared for what we are facing. Not so.
There was an initial and ongoing culture shock which has been hard to explain to most people without causing some offence or another. This, all unintentionally of course. This has shown us how deeply our time and experience affected us. I don't think there is a dream or longing that has not been altered, shelved or just outrightly deleted in our lives. Some of those things God had to let us actually have so that we could see that it was not what we wanted. In some ways this is helping us fit in more and in others it is leading to more separation, it all depends on which group you talk to.
Our guess is that, just like Neo, there is a splinter in our minds which can drive us mad if we let it. We know where we are heading, but we have no idea how or when. Like a bus ride through a strange city to see a concert by your favourite band.
So now we live in the tension of it and continue to prepare and trust. It is so fun and yet so frightening at the same time.
I am purposely keeping this vague because those who know what's up will be able to read between the lines and for those who don't, I don't want them to get pinched between them.

Monday, October 03, 2005

Cat Lovers Only


DSC_1278, originally uploaded by junku.

If you love cats you've gotta check out this guy's slide show. lol

Sunday, October 02, 2005

Saturday, October 01, 2005

Fast Tracking

It has been a while since I have posted anything here and for the few who travel this way I apologise for disappearing with no forewarning. My wife and I decided to do an entertainment fast for ten days and that included blogging. At the end of it I don't know what scared me more, my food-like craving for a screen or the fact that I felt that the fast should end. Either one should be a red flag.
One of the things I took away from our time in China was the simple life I saw many people living. As I walked the streets at night I saw whole families out on the sidewalk just hanging with their community. It was partly because it was too freakin' hot to be in the shacks they were living in, but it was mostly because without all the clutter that fills our lives they found each other. I have seen numerous posts regarding the impersonal nature of our communication, even blogging, or maybe most especially blogging. There are communities out there who break out of their chairs and actually interact beyond the screens, but these seem to be the exceptions.
It boggles my mind to think of how alone we have become in a world so full of communications. How I can be so surrounded by people I can't touch. TV shows showing me people all over the world, some of them even claiming to be showing me reality. iPods, podcasts, headphones, wireless, waves of people singing and playing from a million miles away. Kind of interesting that this stuff is normally recorded in an isolation booth. Gives me a deep appreciation of the guitar toting minstrels who graced our living room over the years; thanks one and all. Blogs from bloggers who are so techno-terrified that we can't even share our real names for fear. For all our bold talk we really are scared inside, aren't we?
So how do I overcome this insane drive for entertainment and screens; the deadly desire to impose the life I live in my own head on others? It crossed my mind that if I do fully unplug that I will become a distraction for those who are still plugged in, and in this increasingly wired world, become even more alone. Hmmm
P.S. This was posted by Brad Koop (Hi there)

Sunday, September 18, 2005

Working Hard

Well here are the latest progress shots of the job we are doing in Ellison. This will be a fun scrapbook addition for me.


Now the forms are off and Guy is ready for a break


Now we will erect a wall to attach the electrical services to



At the completion of the wall the sun mysteriously appears =)


The first phase of backfilling (The green bundles in the last pic are now blue insulation around the frostwall. A little overkill for a garage/shop, but we are GTR and we do it right!)


It always amazes me how a great operator, like Dwayne from Dig-It, can get the site so flat. The next series will be slab prep and the pouring of the garage slab.

Monday, September 12, 2005

Cozy Feet!!

Happy, happy, joy, joy!!!! We are now living in a place with a fireplace and our feet are loving it!!


Mmmmmm, cozy feet!!


Mmmmmm, fireplace!!

Work Quietly With Your Hands

Ok, so maybe this isn't exactly quiet, but I am hoping Paul meant the attitude of the heart.
This is the beginnings of a large garage we are building in the Ellison area. (the one from a couple of posts ago). I thought it would be cool to show the progress over the next few weeks.


This is after the hole has been dug and we are doing the footings.

After the footing comes the walls.

Saty tuned for more.

Sunday, September 11, 2005

A Change Of Heart

What is it in my heart that refuses change and balks at the commands of my Lord? I suppose flesh would be the first thing that pops into my mind, but it seems to be deeper than just that. Somewhere below psychologies, next to the shelves and racks of rational thinking, and right through the door marked "KEEP THE @*%& OUT!!!" there lies the answer. It is found on the face of the guy cowering in the corner over there where the light can't quite reach. It is fear; fear of just about anything, but most particularly death. This would also include the pain associated with the whole process. This fear of pain causes no end of trouble. It hinders every effort towards freedom and hampers all clear thinking. It is the armed guard at every roadblock on the 'way'.
Of course the death this fellow fears is far more than the brutal gore dealt up by Hollywood and the pages of the latest thriller. It is worse because it is far more complete. There is nothing that this death would not touch or demand to be handed over. It is the utter annihilation of the self. Physical death still leaves the self free to wander through the afterlife unscathed. Not really so terrible, unless you just can't live with yourself, then it would truly suck. The kicker is that it is the very fact that the self is demanded and not just confiscated (at this point anyway) that allows this ghoul of fear to haunt the dark crevices of my brain.
The great thing is that in the end he is always proven to be made of nothing more than paper and the only real pain that he brings is the paralyzing fear of his desparate thoughts. He cannot be outsmarted, but he can be dealt a death blow if I will just bow my head and let the One who watches my back cut him down.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

An Office With A View

You know I have seen people trying to get to the office with a view, well this is the view from my office for the next few weeks. Pretty nice, eh?
Oh yeah, there is also a friend from 10 years ago who has returned to Kelowna and is working with me again. We framed before for Double K Craftsmen and now we are the men of GTR. May I introduce Guy Toderash, carpenter in training. We will take him to dizzying heights where framers fear to tread. (Probably because they may have to carry a finishing hammer =) ) Welcome back Guy. (ryhmes with eye not see)





Sunday, August 28, 2005

The Power Of The Gospel

It never ceases to amaze me at how powerful the gospel is. It can change utter darkness into blinding light. It can take the impossible and thrust it back into unbelieving eyes so that they too may see. It always changes what it touches.
What I have found to be equally true and mostly frightening is that the change will happen in either direction. We love the stories of radical conversion, but the ones that shake me are the ones of radical dismissal of the gospel. Either on the Rock or under It, there are no other options. Just as there is a radical change in the lives of those who fall on the rock so too is there a change in those who finally reject it. Even of those in the body who turn aside for what ever reason, there is a change that occurs. It usually surfaces in a doctrinal shift away from at least one point in particular. Not one specifically across the board, but one specifically that cannot be reconciled to the life it is busy offending. It becomes easier to change the word than submit the thing it is trying to kill.
I had a picture once of a submarine which was sitting on the surface of the sea while people were furiously trying to fix all the cracks in it so that it could submerge. Meanwhile the submarine captain was yelling out the order to dive. No one was heeding though because they thought that in the sub's present state it was no good for submerging and could, at best be sold to the Canadian Navy. This did not hinder the captain from his command though.
The Lord said this was a picture of Christians who are beset by the need to fix their sub before diving into God. The Holy Spirit continues to call the command to 'Dive!!!', but they fear their sub will fill up with water and they will die. Of course this is the whole point. The word wants to kill us! The water flowing through the cracks was a picture of the power of God flowing through all the weaknesses we try to hide from Him. The only option for life is to allow the word to kill me. My flesh fights daily to pervert the truth so that it can stay alive. So the power of the gospel can give me a heart of flesh or turn my heart to stone, but it cannot be ignored.

The picture here reminds me of the dream of the Rock which falls and crushes to dust all the empires of man. If you go to the link it will become even more apropriate as it says
The good news:
Scientists will probably spot the object before it hits us.


The bad news:
Even if we get six months warning, there's nowhere to hide.


There is nowhere to hide.

Saturday, August 27, 2005

A Couple Of Reasons Why I Love These Guys

This is the metal leftovers from my headbanging days. Tourniquet was and is my fav metal band and since I have renewed aquaintences with them I have found even more of their accessable humaness that I so enjoy. Here are two examples from their website (link is in the sidebar).

Comes in six varieties...even decaf

OK, ok, that is kind of shameless promotion, but when is the last time you had Judas Priest coffee???

The other thing is that the drummer and driving force behind Tourniquet, Ted Kirkpatrick, seems to have a great love for fishing which appears to have come from time spent with his dad in Wisconsin trout country. Again not the kind of thing you would expect from a guy in a thrash/metal band. Of course this is not your average metal band. (probably why I love their music so much :) )

Nice fish!!

Sunday, August 21, 2005

Hey We're Back

We were gone for awhile to visit family in the fair province of Alberta (land of lower gas prices). I had not been to my brothers place for 20 years so it was about time. They are understanding people and it was always something coming up with the other side of the fam' that kept us from going. They live 8 hrs north of Edmonton so it was a bit of a drive. We stopped at Mt. Robson for a cuople of nights and made our first effort at camping as a family. Worked out awesomw and the kiddies had a blast.
I got a more involved blog coming up which will have to wait until we unpack from our latest move (Lord, will it ever end???). I wrote it done on paper...wow. Now I need to transfer it to the net. Patience will pay off in the end. Till them here are some shots of the holiday.

My Bro and his fam'

Sammy in a skidder wheel

The boys with cousin Josh in the skidder

A cool sunset back at the house

Uncle Darcy teaching the finer points of fishing

A very happy little girl

At the Mt. Robson campground

Mt. Robson

A truck accident we saw on the way

My little cutie blowing away some other local beauties

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Thanks To One And All

Thank you to all those who are far more resourceful than I and have dug up the cool blog page tricks that I have plundered. You are a blessing to hacks like me who have great desire, but little time. I especially like the page translation on the sidebar. Now my friend in China can read through this more easily. Sweet!
This time the thanks goes out to Cindy-Lou at Son-flowers.

Monday, August 08, 2005

It's Hack, But I've Taken Care Of The Template Issues

Although it is rarely true that things are, I do tend to see things in black and white (right Nathan?? ;) ). This came to me as I finished the changes to my Blogsite. Not that it was an original thought by any stretch, but the scheme of the site screamed it out to me. Though there are few things I have corraled into this way of seeing things I continue to search for boundaries and parameters. The interesting thing is that even fluids have boundaries and these days I am fascinated by the fluidity of God's truth. Fascinated because it still remains absolute, and yet fluid all the same. I love how His mind works, always makes me want to know more.

Anyway, it was time for a change and a simplification. Hope you like it, I sure do.

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Help!!

Anyone know how to fix the problem with the sidebar and the profile? I want to have it all black and no scroll bars. Any takers??

Thursday, July 21, 2005

What Are You Feeling?

What are we feeling... right now...??? What is it??? Where is the finger of our soul dipping, and where are the ripples leading our eyes? Are we children being watched as we wander down the street for the first time? Are the eyes on us as we look about in the realm of new freedom? How do I look at my kids as they trundle off without me for the first time? What is it I love as my soul lays a blanket before their gentle feet? What is it??

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Been Awhile, Been Busy

Well life has continued to flow on by and the sometimes turbulent stream has sped us along to today. Had some great things to say but life made a way into my life so I'll let the pictures tell the story. (A nod goes to Nathan for this. Thanks dude ;) )


They're gone!!

Sammy at Bear Lake

Feshya fishin'

Our man Ethan

In Sammy's bunkbed it's always a party!

At Grandma and Grandpa West's place

Sunday, July 03, 2005

Jealousy As A Good Thing?

So what is it saying when the word says that we worship a jealous God? It can be difficult to discern without first undressing our minds from all the clutter that blocks our view. We see through a veil when we use a human standard to assess what the bible says about the Lord, and it skews the perception. It is also difficult to lay aside these perceptions when we open the book. In a poem I once wrote there was a line about 'perusing the tomes of war' which referred to the tendency to read through scripture to find some ammunition against someone else and their thinking. This is what happens when the veil remains as I read. Of course the right way to come to the word is with the mind of allowing it to change how I think. A frightening concept to a human being, to hand your mind over to someone else and allow them to tinker with your treasures. These treasures often are shown for the trash they really are when we do this and that is perhaps the greatest reason for our most passionate defenses.
I found myself in this quandary recently, fumbling through the truth. It was not until I was in bed and trying to turn my brain off that the Lord finally found some purchase on the rocky soil of my mind to speak from. I guess it pays to be quiet. What the Lord started showing me was how I had a problem with the concept of God being jealous. Now this was the kind of thing where I just set it in the back of my thinking and basically ignore it because it doesn't quite fit what is in the foreground. Thankfully though He is committed to us learning and won't allow these treasure to sit there unused.

The problem I had with the idea of God being jealous is the ugliness of this emotion as it is expressed in humanity. It just didn't seem to fit on this awesome, loving God. What I had not considered was that this emotion would be untainted within the heart of God. To show me this He took me to the garden where He had just created Adam. Now to express jealousy in the human sense God's next action would be almost perverse. If He were jealous in the sense we use it He would not have allowed any other to invade this relationship. Yet, when God looked upon this man he said it would not be good for him to be alone. What!!! How does jealousy fit here?? It seems that our idea of jealousy resides within our own desires, whereas God's jealousy resides in the desires of others. His interest is in the right function of that which He has created. Even when He says in the word that He is a jealous God it is not saying that He is some egotistical lover who cannot handle some competition. It has more to do with the joy of the created than the need of the Creator. He is jealous for our good. Look at the harshness with which Christ attacked the hell-spawned ideologies of the people He came in contact with. If I begin to think that this was aimed at the hearers alone I would begin to sow seeds of judgment in my own thinking. I would begin to see pharisees wherever I look. The truth is that this jealous God was as passionate about seeing the pharisees free and living in the joy of the Spirit as He was about seeing the disciples free from their small 'g' God thinking. I have often made the error of taking sides in the pitched battles within the body, leaning towards defending those whom I suppose to be the oppressed against those I suppose to be their oppressors. Of course the oppressors are always flesh and blood. Oops! I forgot about that thing about us warring against principalities and powers, and not each other. Maybe this is what the human idea of jealousy has spawned within my own heart. A place where division can find a foothold and worse yet a stronghold.
So now I am left with this idea of a jealous God creating another love for His creation. Hmmmm, I wonder where this will lead??
from the Duomo di Orvieto

Saturday, July 02, 2005

Lest I Forget

In reading today's headlines I can become a little overwhelmed. That is when I read them in the context of only what these fleshly fishbowls in my head are seeing. It all fades into the colors and banners of hope when I look through the lenses of heaven. I can no longer slide into woeful cynicism (one of my favorite haunts in seasons of forgetfulness), nor into a stupified consolment of compromise, when I but glance upon the transcendant glory of the living Christ.
Consider the writing of John Milton in Paradise Lost where he recounts his vision of the expulsion of the great enemy from the glory of heaven. This is from book VI, lines 806-826 where Christ responds to the Father and the host of glory of His intent upon the hordes of Satan.
Gustav Dore, detail of plate 1
.......But of this cursed crew
The punishment to other hand belongs;
Vengeance is his, or whose he sole appoints:
Number to this day's work is not ordained,
Nor multitude; stand only, and behold
God's indignation on these godless poured
By me; not you, but me, they have despised,
Yet envied; against me is all their rage,
Because the Father, to whom in Heaven s'preme
Kingdom, and power, and glory appertains,
Hath honoured me, according to his will.
Therefore to me their doom he hath assigned;
That they may have their wish, to try with me
In battle which the stronger proves; they all,
Or I alone against them; since by strength
They measure all, of other excellence
Not emulous, nor care who them excels;
Nor other strife with them do I vouchsafe.
So spake the Son, and into terrour changed
His countenance too severe to be beheld,
And full of wrath bent on his enemies.


And through the flight of His foes this countenance is unchanged till at last they fall bewildered to the pit. (lines 853-877)

Yet half his strength he put not forth, but checked
His thunder in mid volley; for he meant
Not to destroy, but root them out of Heaven:
The overthrown he raised, and as a herd
Of goats or timorous flock together thronged
Drove them before him thunder-struck, pursued
With terrours, and with furies, to the bounds
And crystal wall of Heaven; which, opening wide,
Rolled inward, and a spacious gap disclosed
Into the wasteful deep: The monstrous sight
Struck them with horrour backward, but far worse
Urged them behind: Headlong themselves they threw
Down from the verge of Heaven; eternal wrath
Burnt after them to the bottomless pit.
Hell heard the unsufferable noise, Hell saw
Heaven ruining from Heaven, and would have fled
Affrighted; but strict Fate had cast too deep
Her dark foundations, and too fast had bound.
Nine days they fell: Confounded Chaos roared,
And felt tenfold confusion in their fall
Through his wild anarchy, so huge a rout
Incumbered him with ruin: Hell at last
Yawning received them whole, and on them closed;
Hell, their fit habitation, fraught with fire
Unquenchable, the house of woe and pain.


This is the Christ, the Messiah of Israel and the grafted Gentile Church. This is the Christ who sends my foes to flight. This is the Christ against whom the nations rage in vain and plot to their great loss. This is the Christ who will avenge His charished bride for all her sufferings. This is the Christ who beckons all to be at His side as the enemy of all is finally driven powerless to the hell formed for him and his own. This is the Christ who causes my soul to weep for those who will not join at his side, but rally to the side of the one who is forever lost. This is the triumphant Christ, who from birth to death to life forevermore was triumphant and transcendant. This is the Christ scripture reveals, His passion and fury poised against all the unrighteousness unleashed by and against humankind. He is on our side!!! He is the rescuer of our souls from their dark devisings. He is the One who hates the foes of all humanity. He is the One who loves. His jealous anger aroused against any who lift their hands against the cherished ones. Oh that I would remember the great warrior of Love. I cheer the cinema star as he plays a weak reflection of this Great King and go home forgetting the Son who is the light.
Today I remember. Today I will look out through the eyes of heaven. Today I am a son of the King and brother to the Christ of the world here and to come!

Monday, June 27, 2005

Just In Time For Christmas (Or Bill C-38, You Decide)

This is one I wrote back in December '99 for a Christmas concert at the Cosmo with the Vineyard crew. Tonya Gordon pressed me for something to be read during a scene change, thought you might like it.


A Telling of Christmas

All scenes open in the shadowy afterglow of the expulsion where furtive figures are darting about, stealing the occasional fearful, backwards glance with eyes backlit by Eden’s sword. Scurrying ‘cross crag and plain like a thousand new-born spiders, each one’s eyes slow to exchange heaven’s glory for the sun’s baleful glow, they stumble; they fall. They rise and run, fleeing the blast wave of love’s agonising sorrow. Their destination defying description as they despairingly devise an escape from the Everywhere. Every step confounded by darting shards of fire shooting through the coalescing shadows on the ground newly impregnated with a far flung hope. Shafts of shekinah splay across the earth from the convulsing cloud of glory and veiling blackness that rises from the place of communion. A living explosion, disgorging its energies before passing from visible to the invisible. From sight to remembrance and rote. The last eruption before it is engulfed sends a finger of eternal fire screaming from above to burn unseen words of promise upon the belly of the earth. With a final shudder creation shoulders her burden and sends every last soul sprawling against the unyielding earth where they lie in trembling expectation of they know not what. As the cosmos desperately absorbs the last ebbing waves of the Creator, like clouds stretching for the fleeting horizon, there comes a silence. Every hearty feels it tearing through its very being like a rose torn through grasping fingers. Every heart waits in agonised knowing bearing the crushing weight of regret. Every heart as one releases new-born sorrow and tormented remorse at the beckoning of a wordless scream. A scream that would find its voice echoing from the throat of another in His throes of death. Every heart forever recesses within its chambers of thought an ember glowing upon the altar of the soul; a question. Are we forsaken!
Across the ages every dying generation burns this yearning upon the mind of the next. Stumbling through the millennia under the sun’s dim glow they weave a tapestry of woe. Their grasping hands and prying eyes falling endlessly victim to the taunts and secret whispers of the dark jester. A touch; a prod in a world of darkness luring away the gaze from fleeting bursts of rapturous, heaven-born sight. Gifts veiled in blackness soothe clutching hands only to pierce the expectant bosom pressed close in ardent embrace. Few find in their ruminations and reaching the gentle hand of hope. Few feel the fiery life of its fervent grip. Fewer still know its passionate purpose.
Now at last, though, there come upon this burdened sphere footfalls, stepping ever forward with destiny’s power in every stride. From the ranks of the hopeless blind with an unknown fire pursuing their purpose they have come forth, beckoned by promise. Smouldering remnants of the final finger of fire glow curiously beneath their every step. Even dark death is held in thrall at this sight, his hands fallen feebly at his sides. They come, from the sands of the east they are drawn on by the burden of the whisper that thunders. Reverberating on the chords of their souls the words; go…witness…the King is come, are an urgent , unrelenting and enigmatic call. Even on the last league of the journey there is no release from the summons, only a pounding of expectation. The hidden councils of their hearts warming by the glow of a long neglected ember pulsing anew upon its altar.
Hope stands naked at the door of a stable, confounded by the regal heralding of such earthen extravagance. Ears, once attuned to the eternal, ripple with unexpected elation at the murmurings of an infant. A shiver of rapture showers through limbs heavy with stupefied wonder. These last steps come only at the behest of the whisper of Paternal pride; come…see…the King is here. Upon a bed of hay humble knees find their home and eyes too are drawn down to the babe wrapped in simplistic splendour. Here, eyes strained in their search of the heavens lock once again with the eyes that search the earth. In a moment the torrential flow of the centuries is released in solemn sobs.

Now, as before, is the communion.

Now, darkness knows fear, for this very night the light of the world has returned!

Sunday, June 26, 2005

Livingroom Concert


Cris and I had the privilege of going to a livingroom concert last night by Rik Leaf. It was hosted at Andrew Smith's place and was well attended by musicians and non (Me). There were many friends from all over Rik's life there and the atmosphere was very warm. Andrew and some others including his talented kids and Norm Strauss got in on the opening set and the music was soaring. To get a taste of what Andrew has been up to check out this CD. As the cover illustrates, Andrew's virtuoso on the guitar is rising to new heights. Apparently this is fondly admired by other musicians like Rik who during his set was struggling with a hideous mass of cords and cables twined between pedals and other assorted gear and blurted out from beneath his keyboards that
"If I could play an instrument like Andrew I wouldn't need all this crap!"

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Who Knew??

Got this through a friend's blogsite. Try it, you may be surprised and you may not. Truth be told I was actually not very surprised at the outcome, but it was fun. Now I know the deeper underpinings lurking beneath my Wesleyism.

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. 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.

Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan

100%

Neo orthodox

79%

Emergent/Postmodern

64%

Reformed Evangelical

64%

Fundamentalist

57%

Roman Catholic

46%

Charismatic/Pentecostal

39%

Classical Liberal

39%

Modern Liberal

21%

What's your theological worldview?
created with QuizFarm.com

Monday, June 13, 2005

The Hands Of God

It was a relatively good Sunday. A good day in the AM with the kids at home after working a half day on Saturday. This was followed by a good morning/afternoon at church. Linda Pallone was speaking and Kim Unrau was doing the MC'ing. They did a little tag teaming during the message and it worked great. The thing that hit me most profoundly though was when one of them said to close our eyes and ask God what was on His mind as He created Adam. As I closed my eyes there was a sudden rush that went through me as I saw, through my inner eyes, the Father shaping Adam. His fingers gently parting Adam's with His own fingers, sliding them in between and taking hold of his hand. A single divine finger spread out Adam's toes one by one and rounded them over with those cool little pads on the end of each one. This tickled and Father's heart wanted to see His son's smile so He gently ran His thumb across Adam's face and as the mouth opened to smile He breathed in the first breath of life. A gasp, a laugh and joy poured back out in response. Father ran His hand over His son's head a drew forth a great mane of hair. Yes He even reached down and set in order the parts which made Adam uniquely male. His hands caressed into being each and every portion of His son. I believe this is why we have skin over our whole body. It is an organ of sense and touch and it awoke to the touch of the Father on that day. It was spread out by His hand as He traced every muscle and sinew. It is the mantle of His abiding love and devotion for us. This moved me to tears.
You see, before this I had always had this picture of God being rather regal and apart as He spoke into being all of creation. Now with the rest of the created realm this is true, but of Adam it says:

7And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.


This means that with everything else He spoke it into being, but with Adam He actually got in there and got His hands dirty. He chose the dirt, He picked it up and fashioned it with His hands, He put His lips to the earth and breathed life into it. Of course He is still doing it today and it gives me shivers to think of the desire my Father has for me. Is life so bad....no, definitely not, my Father's abiding love is with me and always will be.
Cool!

Monday, June 06, 2005

One For The Schup (You Know Who You Are)

I was at work today when a friend of mine asked me about something I had said earlier on in the conversation. There were three of us and much talk while we worked away on a basement renovation so I lost track of what it was I said. As I pondered it over the course of the day it finally came to me so I thought blogging it would be appropriate.
It started out from the statement that rock bottom is where we live. I came on this paradigm shift while working through some of my issues and it has stuck in my thinking ever since. It finds its basis in Romans 3:23 where the playing field is so famously leveled. When we come to a place in our life where we feel we have hit rock bottom we haven't actually fallen there, it is the place where we as humans exist. Even when I feel I am at the highest height I am still, in reality, at rock bottom. This is where the coolness starts.
Usually when we see someone at 'rock bottom' we think that it would be best if someone with the proper training and experience would deal with them rather than do it ourselves. We may even put on some gloves and protective clothing and help them get to that more qualified person. Now experience and training are great and essential tools as is the recognition that we may be in over our heads, but there is One who lives for these moments. One who lives for when the darkness is so thick that the soul pants for light. One who lives to go to the mat for those who are at rock bottom. Of course Christ died for us all, but not all of us see the need. All of us are at rock bottom, and it is in this most surreal place that our saviour meets us. Not after the house is cleaned up, but before we even know what needs to be cleaned up.
There will be a time when this revelation will truly hit home, and that is when we see Him face to face as He truly is. It is in the true knowing of who He is that we will truly know who we are. Apart from a deep and intimate knowledge of God we cannot know ourselves. It is akin to looking in a mirror with the lights off. Of course when the lights go on we are dazzled by the brilliance of it all. As the eye adjusts to the illumination the image in the mirror becomes clearer and we steadily see more and more of ourselves. If this gaze is long and steady we will grow as Paul did. He went from proclaiming that he was not less than the chiefest of the apostles to stating that he was the chiefest of sinners. The paradox is that in the perfect light of the love of Christ is the safest place to divulge and divest of our deepest darkness. What a Saviour. Truly there is none like Him in all the earth!!

Monday, May 30, 2005

Time's A'wastin'

It's been awhile since I've been here and it has also been awhile since I have been anywhere. It can be so easy to check out on life and then wonder why it feels like it is starting to cave in. It's kind of like building a defense against the onslaught of the tides, if you stop for too long the wind and waves have crushed the work of your hands. They do say that time is the great leveler and it is so true. Time spent in the wrong direction has an even greater abrasive action and life is the recipient of this breaking down. Of course life breaks down into pieces of death and that is my great ruin. For freedom He set me free, so then how great this bondage can be. Now, the spirit can rise above, but it takes a concerted effort in the right direction. I don't want to get into the semantics of faith and works because I would hope we are all past those elementary things. Relationships take work and relationships being built in the midst of a war zone are acutely susceptible to erosion if they are not attended to regularly. My relationship with my wife is like that. The whole of the world system is tearing at the seams that bind us, all the time trying to tear it apart. More so is my relationship with God. This is true because if that goes the whole house comes down. The reality is that this is being built in the midst of a war unlike the physical realm has ever seen. The other reality is that there are only two directions for time to be spent on this relationship....building or eroding.
Hmmmmm, what is it I was going to do now???

Sunday, May 15, 2005

All Power

You know it is inspiring how an inspired book can just keep on showing you insights and revelations. Of course I am referring to the Bible which is the only fully inspired writing. Today there were two nuggets that struck me in the face the first was during the mid-service prayer when Donna Bromley said that there was a connection between the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost,


and the dispersion at the tower of Babel. This connection being in the linguistics of the matter. At Babel, God gave out languages which dispersed all the peoples and at Pentecost He gave the languages again to those who knew them not so as to bring about unity. The difference in the situations was that at Pentecost the people were united in surrender before God. I thought that was a cool insight.
The other insight came while we were going into prayer, joining with Christians all around the globe for a feast of prayer. The prayer time was intro'd by Wes Campbell giving a message on prayer and what it is acomplishing around the globe. During this time he mentioned the exclamations of the saints in heaven in Revelations.
11And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; 12Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. 13And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.
Part of that exclamation I have never understood was about the power. It seemed to me that God already had all the power. Of course this is true, but He is not the power mad egocentric He is often made out to be, is He? No, He isn't. I realised in that moment of prayer that what this means is the giving up of the power that God has given each of us back to Him from whom it originates. As a dad I am given power to rule my household. If I use it with my severely limited abilities, understanding and wits it all goes to hell pretty quick. If, on the other hand, I join with these saints and say to Christ "All power to you Lord", thereby handing the reigns back to Him, then His will quickly ensues and peace reigns. Even countries are given power and obviously don't know what to do with it. If they would join in this prayer daily, and give all power to the Lord on high, peace would ensue. Indeed in the Bible it says that there will be a day when the leaders of this world will say that and Christ shall reign, but oh for a piece of that today. Can you imagine if in true contriteness of heart and spirit our leaders arose in Parliment tomorrow and proclaimed this rather than their party platforms and politics!!! Let us pray for this great day of surrender. Let us pray for a piece of the bread of heaven for today in this country. Let us also in our own lives give the power to Him; let us join in the will of heaven while we yet travail upon this earth.

Sunday, May 08, 2005

Introducing....The Silken Sulleness

Hey, is this a family picture or the lastest earth grunge band posing for their new album cover?

I love those guys!

Happy Mother's Day Sweetie!!!

On this morning we remember this wonderful lady, my wife. She is the kind of mother who inspired this day with her commitment to her family and life of blessing to her husband. For all the
- weekend pancake breakfasts
- awesome birthday parties
- late night bad dream snuggles
- quiet watching and adoring
- dreaming and hoping
- harder work than we will ever know
- playtime laughter
- alphabet teaching
- song singing
- bathtime splashing
- family value modeling
- hugs, kisses, and loves
- more than I have room for here!!
The bible says that a wife like this is a crown on her husband's head and her children will rise up with her husband and call her blessed. So today we all rise up and say,


You are the GREATEST!!!

Saturday, May 07, 2005

O To Let Go

It is a wonder some days that the blood even flows through my body. This is not due to my love for Burger King, although that will definitely slow the flow. It is due to the way I can get wired so tight about life. The constriction is intolerable most times and yet as I search for where the knots started I cannot seem to locate the beginning of it all. It does have a start somewhere as all things other than God do, but in this instance it is only God who can find it. Why is it that in the economy of the kingdom to surrender and admit defeat is the height of victory for us? I ask why because this is the single most difficult thing for a human being to do. Of course we all know, or have seen, or have been the one who has just caved in and let life happen to them, but this is not surrender, this is a continuation of the fight on a different level. Surrender happens when we lay down all earthly effort and subject ourselves under God. We sit down and listen to Him explain where the knots begin. We use His tools to start pulling the strings, ropes and wires away from each other. We hand over the urge to scream and rage against the confinement and receive the patience to work it out. We know we want to be free, we know we are supposed to be free, but the patience and forbearance eludes us. This is the gift.


Of course all of this does not happen in a bubble, it happens as life is bearing down on you with all its fury,

it happens in real-time.
So, are we up for a chat with the Prince of Peace, or will we rail against it all until the fury has its way?

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

OK, So I'm Prejudiced...So What!!

OK. This tops the list of greatest all time album covers for me. There is such a seductive melancholy about it and yet it tingles with childlike hope. WOW! Good on the boys from the Choir.

Monday, April 25, 2005

How Does That Go Again???

Ever find yourself in a strangely dejavous-ish situation searching for the way out, all the while knowing that the familiar looking door over there is not the right way? It is only familiar because you have used it before; in fact every time you have been here that is the way you have tried to get out. Strange thing is that the door leads to a hallway that winds its way around to a darkened corridor at the end of which lies a trapdoor back into the place you just left. So do you try the door yet again? Staying in the room seems to only bring on a sense of panic. The sense that this room may be all you will ever know. The Quiet Voice tells you that you must wait here for the answer, but the loud voice tells you the door is the only way out and further more it says that to remain here will kill you. "Get up and fight!", it yells at you along with some perfectly chosen diminutive phrases. In such a lonely place and yet so crowded by others, what will you choose this time?? What will I choose??

Saturday, April 23, 2005

Yada Yada Yada

You know it is a slow week when all you can think of to fill your time is sitting at the computer and blogging. After looking around at not too much interesting stuff it absolutely stimulated me to add to the morass of one way conversation out there. Of course it is an attempt to reach out, so hey maybe it's not all that bad.
Oh well, maybe I'll just go back out there and see if I can actually touch someone else who is reaching out.

Friday, April 15, 2005

Things I Take For Granted

With a heading like that one may think that I am going to lift up my all too deserving wife or my stellar kids for some well earned praise, but in fact I am going right to the top with this one. Going straight to God Hisself as the guy on Kevin Prosch's Palanquin says.
I share this because it has changed some of the things that would trigger a separation between God and myself as well as for the fact that it greatly encouraged someone I shared it with last night (Go Shrieker!!!). It all revolves around the word holy and what that means to me. Of course before it always meant fear and distance. It was the thing that kept God at arm's length or worse. It was the insurmountable slope of the great mount Zion upon which Father was seated and my every effort to ascend it was only met with an acknowledging nod from above. It pinned me down and averted my eyes. It killed intimacy whenever its tender bloom sought so radiant a light for nourishment. It has, though, changed significantly. The Lord has been teaching me heresy and life are intertwined.
This has proved itself out over the past two years since the Lord offered it to my fragile mind and has actually began to heal the crack in my bean wherein He shoved this nugget. It is precisely this action to which I refer. This intense desire to see me healed and whole is the key to understanding what holy really means, so you can pick up the beer and cigs for !@#$'s sake cuz I ain't goin' there. I am going where the source of all healing flows, the holiness of God.
Consider the possibilty that holiness should not be defined by its outcomes but rather the impetus of its actions. This is the same as defining faith as our saving trust and works as the outcome of that faith. We do not define our faith by our works (please read James just a little more carefully if this causes you some angst), it is simply proven by our works. So too is holiness not defined by its actions, it is simply proven by them. So if holiness is not what it does then how do we define it? The simple its-very-late-I-don't-have-much-time version is that holiness is the single minded devotion of one being for another. Now don't look at this as some simple love story, it is so much more than anything we have contrived in our own hearts. This is God's single mindedness in regards to us, or better said His single mindedness to us. I need to omit the word regards because that intimates that there are some other things on His mind and this is simply not true. There is nowhere in scripture where it implies a time where God is off doing something other than following the plan of salvation through to its conclusion. Look all you want, it just ain't there. I cannot even begin to relate to this because there is nothing and no one that I serve with this kind of devotion (yes, you're right, I don't deserve my wife, but we already know that) other than myself. This is precisely the battle of holiness in our lives, isn't it?? Getting our minds off of ourselves and onto someone else for more than 5 minutes is the huge, daily, and consuming struggle of the Christian life; or the life of the heretic (nod). Considering this definition of holiness though turns all that other crap I was taught right over on its head. God is for me in such an all consuming fashion that it is bewildering. When I fail, He seeks a way to forgive me, restore me and bless me once again (Job 33:24, Isa 59:16, & of course John 3:16) When I stumble He lifts me up. When I don't see He turns up the light. When I don't hear He heals my ears. When I am busy He waits. When I am needful He opens His storehouses. When I am oppressed He vanquishes my foes (just read Ps 18.....woah)
This is holiness. This is my Father. This is who I want to be like. What a God is He!!!

Thursday, April 07, 2005

Free Press???

You gotta love the stories that come from a free press source. I honestly don't know whether to laugh or cry. Do I hear any tears or titters out there? Oh, pardon me perhaps those tears are just from the pollution.

Sunday, April 03, 2005

Whadju Say!!??

A friend would say it
Framed with care
To value the moment
When it will hang
Between you and he
The needful phrase
Only the truth will raise
To plunge it as a blade
In the bare furrow
Between flesh and spirit

Only a friend could say

(Brad Koop Mar30/05)

Saturday, April 02, 2005

Shanghai Calling

I recently started the daunting task of going through reciepts for last year so we can start doing our taxes (Yikes!) It has been nostalgic this year though as we sift through a year that had a great many changes for us. Here is just a small piece of the year that was. This is an assortment of the IP cards we used to call friends and family back in Canada during our stint in Shanghai. The face value is 100RMB, but we usually bought them on the street for 40 to 50RMB apiece. Great value and they gave us about 45 minutes of talk time to Canada. SIGH, it was a very cool time for us.

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

The End?

This morning the Lord led me to Revelation 19 for my morning reading and it seemed very odd to me. Part of the reason is that lately I have been in Paul's epistles trying to learn about how grace and action work together, the other part is that since moving on from the Alliance church years ago Revelations kind of faded into the background. It has been like I put it back up on the shelf in favor of the other 65 books. This morning though, the Lord took it down, dusted it off for me and got me thinking about perspectives. Revelations 19 is about the marriage of the Lamb and the final defeat of the beast and the false prophet, it is glad tidings to the saints of the final great victory of our King and the revelation of our place in it all. The perspective came in when I realised that it is pretty rare that I think about what those last days will be like for me, or if I go before it happens, what the end of my days will look like. I am not sure if it is the death part that averts my eyes from the latter, but it is a place I rarely go. Truthfully the death part I think about, but the afterward is something that skips away like a rock on still water. I think it will be healthy to start thinking on these things again. The church I am in now focusses a lot on prophecy of the gifting kind and somewhere along the way I forgot about the prophecy of the 'end kind'.


One of our pastors and his wife used to preach about how they would meditate on heaven and what the bible says it will be like as a part of following the rich traditions of our forefathers in the faith. This led them to revelations about the greatness of the hope that is spelled out in the epistles again and again. It caused them to lift their eyes up from this earth as it says in Col. 3:1 and set them in the great reality of God's kingdom. It inflamed their faith. I guess if my hope is placed in something I never look at or think about it will become a weak and trivial thing, unable to look at the world with an active faith. This world will become all and my faith will be but a shade on its face.
The interesting thing about all this is the amount of opposition I can feel inside of me to this whole proposal. There is a great shouting going on all around me (not my kids :) )which is saying that this is too much effort, saying that it is easier to just slide on by and let the end be what it will be. There is a great opposition which tells me that this is the way I should go. The marriage of the Lamb is about invitation not opposition..........yet.

Thursday, March 24, 2005

How True This Is!!

Cris and I read these together and could not help but laugh. Hope you enjoy.
If you want to see the cool blog they came from just check out the link.



Free, free, free!!!

Well it is almost that great day when we remember the fact that Jesus not only died for us, but He rose again. I love how Paul puts it in Colossians 1:18 ,"who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead". Wow, the dead being born again, what a hope. I feel dead a lot of days, like I am dragging a carcass around by the sheer force of will. Sometimes it is just the feeling of getting older and sometimes it is the feeling of this world getting older, but either way there is a weight to it. That is when I think of this great truth, He was the firstborn from among the dead. If there was a firstborn that means there are others and if it is from the dead then it is to the living. This means I am alive!!! It doesn't matter how I feel at that point there is a welling up in my spirit of hope and joy unspeakable (1Pet. 1:8). There is also a truth in the fact that Jesus Christ led the way, it means it is He who is holding the door open for all who will follow. The emphasis is on will because I can choose whether to believe this and live in it or to sit in the idea of death even in the midst of life abounding. This life is in Him who holds the door, and who is going to make Him close it? No one!!!!! He has already disarmed the enemy and made a public spectacle of them (Col 2:15), so they are no longer a threat to this great promise of life are they?? If, like me, you hear some reservations going through your head when you read this now is the time to tell them where to go! Now is the time to believe what is true even if all others are liars (Rom. 3:4), and this includes our own minds. This is the life that He suffered and died for ! It is for freedom that He set us free (Gal. 5:1)!! Let us now live then because the Firstborn from the dead is alive! Let us live then because He is full of abounding life! Let us live!

Thank you Jesus for the enduring greatness of your love
Thank you Jesus for life!!!

Monday, March 21, 2005

You Go Sister

What a refreshing blog this was to read. Just straight up faith, love and devotion. Living here in N.A. it can be easy to forget, but like a cold water on a hot day, this kind of faith just invigorates. No colliding issues and ponderings, just God. This is what I want.
My wife and I talked yesterday about the fact that we tend towards wanting to hear faith via worship music, messages, books, and even blogs; but we have a much harder time speaking out of our own hearts. Not the regurgitation of another's professions either. We're talking about straight off the walls of our hearts like dayglo graffiti in the darkness. One regurgitation I will give comes from John Wesley and it goes like this," Preach faith till you have it, and then you will preach because you have it."
I think this blog is about to change......

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Closed Doors & Septic Sores


This is a sign of some times, maybe our times, that appears on many places where there is no soil in which to place a post, just flesh. A sign appearing on many lives and hearts, a sign justifying and isolating. When I come to the foreground of my life's relationships and turn around to take a brief look at myself I see that this sign stands at the door to where I really live. This is the sign most people see when they try to get a little closer. Depending on who we are this sign will be placed closer or further away from the edges of our property to warn away potential visitors from entering an area where they may meet hostility or maybe just a closed, unmarked door. It will also depend on who the visitor is. With a post in the earth this would be difficult, but flesh moves so readily at times that there is little effort at all. It is also interesting to note that the harder the flesh becomes the harder it is to move the sign back and forth and this will keep it posted at the outer limits of the heart in a more permanent fashion.


All of these signs are placed by the owners, or at least by the tenants. Tenants have temporary rights to the land on which they dwell and must secede to the legal rights of the owner when said owner presses said rights. This is indeed the case with our hearts; we are tenants with temporary and transitory rights to our hearts. The owner will one day demand an accounting of the use of this heart He made for us.
This fact of other ownership also brings up some interesting side issues. This owner has also set the boundaries and laws governing the land on which we reside. While He has given a great and varying leeway to the tenants and this leeway is by definition given in the presence of the governing laws. One of these governing laws is the one which describes the boundaries of each person's property. At this point I call to mind a picture of landowners and developers who have surface water running through their land and across its fixed boundaries. Many a western movie and at least one episode of Bonanza had this as the central theme of its story; what the guy upstream is doing is hurting those downstream. Of course in the movies this guy is always an abrasive cuss who must needs be shot to correct his errant ways, but not so in real life.
In the real world we are all tenants who are responsible not only for the land on which we live, but also that of our neighbours. The things which we do on our 'private property' do have ramifications for those around us. It doesn't matter if it is burning leaves in the backyard or some of the darker things we do in the basement, none of this is retained on our land exclusively. The Owner has crafted the land under these immutable laws. Whatever effluent is found in our hearts will run under the fence and onto the next guy's property. How many lies have I believed about the darkness of my heart which were crafted specifically to protect the downstream flow of shit? This makes the ecology of our heart a most dire circumstance demanding our full attention. The cleanliness of this place is of great import to the Owner as it is with any landlord, the only difference being that this Landlord will aid in any way possible if He is inquired of. Wow, He is really quite amazing, isn't He?! Of course when He comes to help out on the land He will put up His own sign on the edge of the property which will determine the rights and actions of others while they are there. With it being His sign it also means He will make the rules, but it is the only way to clean the place up without dumping it all over the fence, or under it. His sign is the only way.