Back from an altered state...

Got back yesterday from our little trip, brief overview; We went from New Hampshire, through Massachusetts, Vermont, New York and to New Jersey, kinda crazy to be able to go through to different states that easily. It's about a 10 hour drive to the next province for me, so this is a little different! We traveled about 5ish hours to Long Island where we stayed the night at the Lighthouse church, which Sharayah's family pastors. The next day, 3/4 of the group stayed there for the service and the rest of us, myself included went early to New Jersey to "Harvest Training Centre" where they were hosting the kick-off for the USA offices of TRIN (Touch, Reach and Impact the Nations) which included a Jason Upton concert. We got there early to do any set-up that they needed. Then that night we split into two groups, went to two different houses to sleep, then left the next morning and took about a 7 hour drive back to good 'ole New London.

Picture: Brandon(Alberta), Dave(Massachusetts) and Luke(Alberta) on a van break

It was more laid back than other trips we've been on, but it was a different type of service, not as active and as busy as say, something like Salem, but it was still good and we were able to bless people wherever we went.

Picture: Jacob(California), Nathan(North Carolina), Chad(Michigan) and Caleb(Alberta) on a lunch stop!

On the whole trip, I probably enjoyed being at the concert the best, although I'm not a big Jason Upton fan, it's kinda of been very overplayed in the last few years, at least for myself, I still had a good time. I helped usher, which meant I stood the whole time and took an offering, not too difficult, which is ideal for me.

Before the worship started, we did dream interpretations for an hour, then when it was half-over, we started doing teams again. It was such a blessing for me because I didn't think I would get to do teams at all, because we left early and didn't stay at the church in NY to do ministry like most people, I didn't know we were going to get to do it at the concert.

Picture: Jacob, Jamie(Alberta) and Anthony(Virginia) just driving

This was really good for me as I led a team the whole time. It was a lot of fun and encouraging because I was really able to see how much I've even been growing in hearing from God as I was able to step out and do dream interpretation and gave prophetic words to people. I had a killer team to work with, mostly Kulbir(England) and Dave(Massachusetts), but also at times, Anton(New York) and Jacob (California), which made it so much easier too!

The highlight of that night was probably having a father, son and daughter, all come to my team for dream interpretations separate from each other. They were all great dreams, you could really see how God was working in the family and how their dreams reflected what was going on as a whole. It was really neat too because none of them knew each other had been there, they probably had a lot to talk about later!

It was pretty fun, I had a good time but it's nice to be back home, it'll also be good to be home this weekend, I'll enjoy going to the New London Bridge, our home church here, we've been away for the last two weekends so this will be a treat!

I don't have much a segway or anything, but here goes a big subject change! I was surfing the internet and found this product. I guess I just don't understand it. Why? I mean, just put that thing on the wall. Do you really need to spend that much time in bed?

I didn't get really any pictures while we were at the churches, I'll try to get a hold of some and put some more up... In the meantime, I hope you are entertained by the following...


Video: Mike and Amanda(Texas) and myself at the Concert



Pictures: Desperate attempts to alleviate van boredom!

If Enochs, open the door!

It's been an interesting week so far. Many different things have been coming up in different peoples lives and it's been manifesting in a variety of different ways. It's a dramatic illustration of what I already knew would happen. I knew it would be a very different season after Christmas break, so far, it has been. It's been difficult at least for me, with God working on different areas in my life, bringing up things I thought I had dealt with, and revealing things I didn't even know.

All this stuff coming up with myself and with others has given me a unique opportunity. I've been given the opportunity to respond correctly, to learn now. John Paul Jackson was telling us that when God shows you something, it's going to be much easier to deal with it now then later.

As hard as it's been at times, I feel so blessed to be in a place where I'm given the chance to deal with my stuff in this environment, rather then have it come up later at an inopportune time.

Also, being here has given me the chance to see leadership model a level of character I've never seen before. Sometimes, you get hints of a persons character, it comes out in subtle ways in everyday life, but in the last little while I've seen leadership exemplify character. As hard as it is to see people going through difficult times and their own "Dark nights of the soul", I'm so thankful that God has me in this place where I can learn from God-fearing authority figures. This last week, has been for me one of those, "Where-were-you-when?" For example, where were you when the twin-towers came down? Everybody knows where they were when they heard that news. For me, this week will always stand out to me, and in the midst of difficult times, I really have the Lord's peace because He is the great Redeemer.

Tomorrow we are leaving for New York, I'll let you know how that went, it'll be a 6 hour drive, so just getting there will be a good chunk of our day. I'm not too worried though, I've done plenty of 24 hour drives with my family, not a big deal for me.

There are some odd named towns down here, I guess they just weren't feeling original, I mean there's Lebanon, Canaan, Bellingham, and a bunch of other duplicate names. I'm not sure what's up with that... Today Chad and I went and experienced Lebanon. I didn't really need to go, but how many people can say they've been to Lebanon? While we were there I met a new friend, his name is Enoch. In fact, we hit it off so well that I invited him to stay in our room with Chad and myself. He was a little reluctant at first, I mean, I barely know the guy! But after I flexed for him, he was so impressed it took away any reservations he might have had. So I put a picture up here for you, so far we are getting along really well. He's pretty spiritual too, I guess with a name like Enoch, you have to be, I mean, all this guy does is soak all day and all night!

Picture: My new friend Enoch


I hope you all have a great weekend, I'll throw up some pictures when I get back on monday or tuesday!

Salem 2005 video

I thought I'd throw up this video of the Salem outreach the year before ours. When our video is done for this year I'll throw it up here as well. Look back at the November archives to see pictures and read about how amazing it was!

First outreach of the semester!

We got back yesterday from our outreaches. We split up into two groups. My group went to Wakefield MA which is about 2 hours away and the other group went to Northborough, MA.

The other group spent the first day doing dream interpretations and giving prophetic words at the Olive Branch book store. It went really well, they had some really good testimonies from there and one kid got saved too! The next day they went to the Metrowest Bridge and ministered to the church there. For those of you who don't know, the association of Bridge churches is connected with John Paul Jackson and Streams Ministries. John Thomas, the pastor of that particular bridge church recently came up and taught one of our 201 Dream Interpretation courses.

My group left to go to Wakefield at 7 am, it should have been an easy trip, but it started to snow and there was an accident on the freeway so we ended up completely stopped for over an hour.

When we did get to Wakefield we were an hour late, we were supposed to be running a workshop that was basically on hearing God's voice, so when we got there we just jumped right into it. Kelly Guerra started us off with some great worship then John Harding talked about hearing God's voice.

It was awesome, there was about 25-ish kids and with adults and other people there was about 40 people besides us. We did a lot of practical excercises for the kids, so that we weren't just teaching, but doing a lot of hands on things.

Picture:Everyone practicing giving words to the pastor

The first exercise we did was to get one kid to come up front, then just get the kids or whoever to shout out what they were hearing from God. It was a little slow at first and we helped get the ball-rolling but I was surprised at how much these kids went for it. They just jumped right it and they were giving some really awesome encouraging words!

One of the other exercises we did was, we had the group split in two and line up on opposite sides of the room, then group A would close their eyes and group B would walk over and tap one of them on the shoulder. Then group A with their eyes closed would listen to God and share whatever it was they felt He was saying. It was really neat at how right one these kids were hearing. I couldn't help but be a bit envious of them. I sure wished someone had come to do something like this at my youth group!

After that we talked about interpreting dreams for a bit, did a few live dream interpretations, then we split up into groups with kids and us interns and went to different rooms where we did further dream interpretations.
Picture:Jamie leading a prophetic exercise.

One of my favourite parts of that day was this particular boy who came up to the front for people to shout out what they were hearing. He was so blessed by it, it was so awesome to see God working through everyone there he was in tears by the end of it. Later he was in my dream group with Jody (Michigan) and Sharon(South Carolina) and he had a dream that totally corresponded with the words he had received earlier. It was a powerful time for this kid, he ended up receiving freedom in different areas of his life. After we prayed for him his countenance was totally different. It was a very encouraging day for all the kids and for all of us!

That night we went to Kevin the youth pastor's, apartment complex where he had invited the neighbours to come and have their dreams interpreted. Not a lot of people showed up, but that's ok, because the ones that did, we ended up spending like an hour with them. God knew just the right people to send our way!

The next day we went to the Wakefield Vineyard church, they had a wonderful service which we all enjoyed, then after we were off in a room doing dream interpretations and giving prophetic words. God likes to stretch me, I don't think He ever gets tired of it. I was leading a team and I asked John Harding to not send me any people with dreams because there were no second year student on my team. That was the plan at least, it ended up working out different and 3 out of the 4 people that sat down there had dreams. It worked out so well because the people I was working with Jesse Smith(Michigan) and Kevin the youth pastor were great to have on a team. Interpreting dreams, we're taught, is %90 revelation so the Lord really helped us and gave us some easy dreams to interpret.

Sometime I surprise myself at how much I worry about that kind of thing, God has proven himself to come through time after time, the fact I still wonder or doubt sometimes surprises me! It seems stepping out in faith never really gets easy, I guess then it wouldn't be stepping out! The more you prove yourself faithful, the more God will give you and test you with. It can be hard but it is such a blessing to be used by God!

Picture:Sharayah(New York), Chad(Michigan), Jesse(Michigan)

We were also able to encourage Kevin as he isn't around a prophetic community too much, he had a great time with us giving words and hanging out, it was such really great to meet his family, he has 5 kids all under 13 years old, you don't often find a family like his who are really going for the Lord from a young age!

This morning in place of our regular first class we all shared testimonies from our different trips, it was neat to see how God was doing similar things at similar times in our different trips.

This weekend we have another outreach. We will be going to Newbury(I think...) to a Jason Upton conference where we will be the ministry team. I'll let you know more as I do, but it should be a lot of fun!

Picture:Breakfast with myself, Brandon(Alberta) and Luke(Alberta)

Picture:Me on an early morning walk before church (Tim Hortons is better!)



Video: I thought I'd throw up a video of Jamie, Luke and Chad worshipping how they know best.

A Beautiful Thought

I've been thinking a lot lately about God's eternal nature, creation, us and everything in between. Something that has struck me is how we have such a hard time thinking outside of time. No matter how hard we try it seems so hard to break the mindset that God is outside of time.

That seems like such a simple concept that often I find myself just accepting it without giving it much thought. I've really been learning about the vastness and wonder of God. We are told not to put God in a box but I'm wondering if that's even possible? To think about the vastness of God, to try to put that into thought, isn't that even kind of limiting Him to be as big as you can imagine? I think as humans we almost have to put limits on things to be able to understand them.

Now I believe I am beginning to understand that I will never understand. I suppose that could be discouraging to some, but it's thrilling for me, to know that every time I try to picture God, his vastness or try to understand the fullness of an aspect of him, I'm way off. To know that God is infinitely more vast than what I can even imagine is comforting for me.

I have so much wonder and awe when I consider that this God loves me. When you try to put it in scale or context, well you can't, so I'll just give up on that. I love what the psalmist says in Psalm 45:

Psalm 45:1
"My heart overflows with a beautiful thought!
I will recite a lovely poem to the king, for my tongue is
like the pen of a skillful poet."

"My heart overflows with a beautiful thought..." That's what I want every day. Jesus is the ultimate beautiful thought. When I think about God that's how I feel sometimes, just overwhelmed in wonder. What did it for me today was thinking about God creating us.

I'll try to explain my overwhelming thought, we'll see how I do...

We tend to think of Creation as a past work, but for God there is no time. So what we consider to be thousands of years ago when God created us, when he walked in the Garden with Adam, God is doing at this very moment. There is no difference to God, when you are going through hard times, when you are having the best day of your life, right now while you are reading this, God is taking infinite joy and love as he creates you. When He spoke into existence the creation of everything, those words are resonating right now.

It's hard to share revelations, I don't know if I was able to convey that, but I hope it gives you something to think about at least. I pray that this day, as you consider God, creation and eternity, you will be overwhelmed with a beautiful thought.

What else is new you may be wondering? Well, so far just school as normal, but coming up this weekend we are splitting up into two groups and going on an outreach. Some of us are going somewhere, and the rest of us, somewhere else. I'm not sure exactly where, but I'll definitely put up pictures and write about it.

Jessica(Virginia) and Myself



Matt(Here) works here for Streams doing video. He also makes most excellent music which you can check out here.









And for your bonus feature, here is a video of an average lunch break.

'Fraid not!

It's finally happened. Chad and I moved into Ken's house yesterday. It's so good to be finally moved in, because living out of my bag for the last week isn't as fun as you might think. I think I am pretty much set up now, it's a much nicer house. Well, maybe not to everyone, but I love it. It's a really old colonial style house, lots of wood, lots of character. I'll put some pictures up sometime(I know I say that, but I think I actually mean it this time!).

Ken is in the process of moving out to a different place so it will be Noah(New York), David (Massachusets), Nathan(North Carolina), Chad(Michigan) and myself. Also on have two second years, Dan(Scotland) and Jon(Massachusets?). So it's going to be a really good crew here. What I really like about this house is there will be way more opportunities to have some "me time". It's going to be quite a bit quieter here, and that'll work out just fine for myself.

It's been a really good last week, we had some really good classes. We started our 201 class on Dream Interpretation, John Harding gave an amazing dramatic presentation of a martyr story. We had an amazing impartation night with Aaron Evans who spoke on Spiritual Wisdom and how God is preparing us to influence the "7 spheres of influence" and then he prayed for us all. Some highlights from Aarons impartation that night were:

4 Keys to Shine:

Daniel 12:3
Those who are wise shall shine
Like the brightness of the firmament,
And those who turn many to righteousness
Like the stars forever and ever.

1 - Ask God to make you single eyed(single purposed or focused) - Single eyed on God, so the light can shine brighter.
2 - Ask God to help you separate soul from spirit - Sanctify the spiritual aspect of your life.
3 - Become a friend of God - Ask God what you need to do.
4 - Be sensitive to the Spirit of Wisdom / Grow in honour - Honour God and the authorities in your life.


We also had our first class with John Paul Jackson, it was really good, he talked alot about God and eternity, not a lot of it was really new to me, but he had a really great perspective and way of explaining it that was so refreshing and I got a whole lot out of it. An excerpt I liked from that is:

3 Requests From Moses
Exodus 33:13
Note the order that Moses asked these things, they are in his order of importance, I think the progression gives us a lot of insight.

1 - Show me your ways that I may know you.
2 - Go with us personally - so everyone will know we are separate.
3 - Show me your glory.

Well, I think that'll do me for today, I've got a big day of relaxing to get in, and I'll probably end up helping Ken move and get set-up in his new place. I'll leave you with a few pictures.

Chad and Abby in Class


Some worship at the Yellow house(Girls house)


Last semesters group photo - names below

(Left to Right)(top) Anthony(Virginia); Dustin(British Columbia); John(California); Caleb(Alberta); Warren(New York); Jon(Massachusets); David(Massachusets); Brandon(Alberta); Jody(Michigan); Luke(Alberta); Chad(Michigan); David(Scotland); Jamie(Alberta)

(middle)Mike(Texas);Nicole(California); Annalee(Massachusets); Jacob(California); Sharon(South Carolina); Abby(Michigan); Sharayah(New York); Rebecca(Sweden); Sarah(Scotland); Danielle(South Carolina); Noah(New York);

(Bottom)Alli(Connecticut); Amanda(Texas); Dan(Scotland); Kulbir(England); Claire(England); Emily(Virginia); Kelly(Texas); Ken(New Hampshire); Micah (New Hampshire); Lance(California);

(Missing) Matt(New Jersey)

(Behind the Camera) Jessica (Virginia)

Take two!

I made it. I'm finally here. In fact, I'm so here it's already my second day! I've been so exhausted the last two days that only now do I feel up to writing anything. So I'll try to catch you up now.

The flights here were quite an ordeal, I'm glad I don't have to fly again until June because it was quite a hassle getting here. My plane left Abbotsford at 6:30 pm January 4th, I arrived in Calgary no problem, but did have to wait out a boring 2 and 1/2 hour layover by myself. I left from there to Toronto and got off the plane at 6:15 am local time, I was supposed to begin boarding my plane to Boston at 6:45 so it was going to be close. After a 10 minute shuttle to a different terminal I started to wonder if I would make it. Then after picking up my bags and going to customs where I got sent to immigrations for further inspections by a grumpy customs agent who used colourful language to describe his current mood and frusteration.

After being fingerprinted, having my picture taken and told to wait till my name was called, I looked at the clock, which now read 7:20, I was finally resigned to my fate, that I'd have to catch a different plane. Just then they called me through, I was good to go so I grabbed my bags and ran, I dropped my luggage off on a conveyor belt and asked a lady where my gate was, she told me that and also let me know they were pushing to leave in 4 minutes. So I managed to get in front of everyone at the security screening and I took off running with my shoes still not quite on.

I'm not sure who planned the layout for that airport, but they should be fired, my gate was pretty much the furthest away it could be but I did make it in time, the stewardesses even cheered for me as I ran onto the plane!

Unfortunately because I was so late to get to my plane, my bags didn't make it onto my flight, but it all turned out ok because I missed my bus in Boston because I was talking to airline people about my bags, I was there an extra 2 hours waiting for the next bus and my bags came on the next flight, so it all worked out in the end.

I learned a very valuable lesson about making sure you have a long enough layover when you need to go through customs. Who knew 30 minutes wasn't enough? A word of warning for all you who book flights online, Expedia.com apparently doesn't take that kind of thing into consideration.

All is well that ends well though, I caught a bus with Jessica(Virginia), Anthony(Virginia) and new student, Anton(New York) who actually knows one my really good friends Jeremy Burden who I went to Jesus School with.

After a very full afternoon of hellos and hugs, I had some dinner than went to bed, being up for about 36 hours straight will tend to give you a great nights sleep. Unfortunately, my 10 hours wasn't quite enough and I still suffered a bit for a full day of orientation.

Today was church and this evening Jamie (Alberta) and Sharayah(New York) did their student impartations which was amazing. It's awesome how God always knows just what you need, especially because it always seems like I'm the last person to know what I need. It not only blows my mind that He cares enough to arrange that stuff for us, I can't imagine what life would be like without Him, I can't imagine what kind of mess I'd be in right now. I'm a mess enough as it is, I don't need any more problems!

Tomorrow is our first full day of school, I'm really looking forward to it, we'll be starting our 201 course on Dream Interpretations as well as in the afternoon be doing our jobs in the offices. This trimester I'll be working in media doing lots of graphics/marketing. At least that's what I'm told...

I'm also moving to a different hosue hopefully tomorrow, I'm staying temporarily at the guys house but I'll be moving to Ken's old house with some other guys once Ken is fully moved out. It will be nice to no longer be in limbo and to be able to fully unpack.

There is a lot of anticipation for this trimester with myself and everyone. There are a few new students as well, I'm excited for them because they have no idea what they are getting themselves into.

Another year, another traffic jam...

It's hard to believe that in 3 days I will be beginning my trek back to the wild, the untamed, the eastern coast of the U.S. of A. Where has the time gone? Well I'm not exactly sure, but I do know where much of it went. Driving home today took 5 hours to complete a 2 hour and 15 minute journey from Whistler to Abbotsford. There was much snow and much more slow snow drivers. I illustrate what driving in the snow is like, I put below quite possibly the most boring movie you'll ever watch. But having said that, I think I can pretty much guarantee that most of you won't believe me and will watch it, but, I warned you.



How was it? Yeah, I thought so too. It took us 2 and 1/2 hours to drive 40 Kilometers (That's 25 Miles for you Americans!) I guess I'm a little bitter and just wanted to waste many other peoples time to make me feel better.

Now that I've got that out of the way, it's been a really good break, I've been able to work and make some more money to help pay for the internship, so to be able to pick up like that and work for my Dad painting is a blessing, thanks Dad!

I've also been able to see people here and there and catch up in my alone time, I don't seem to get a whole lot at school so I tried to fit in 6 months worth here, we'll see how well it worked when I get there.

It was a nice break and long enough to be able to get into a routine and not feel completely disjointed, but I'm looking forward to going back for the next 6 months!

The last few weeks have been busy for me, Christmas came and left, I went with my family to a cabin for a bit. That was fun, we went to cabin at Cultas Lake, 45 minutes away, not too far, not too close, just far enough. We played Take Two for a very long time, it's kind of like Scrabble, but faster paced and just all around much better! I humbly admit, I was amazing at it, I even surprised myself! Here is a picture of my family, (From Left to Right: Myself which I had to add in later because I had to take the picture, my Mom, brother Dan and his wife Anna, dear 'ole Dad and sister Elisa.)


Yesterday, Andrew and I drove up to Whistler, a ski-resort city, where we stayed at cabin with friends I knew and friends I now know. We rang in the New Year with all the right ingredients for a great party: food, ping-pong, snow, walking and a hot-tub. What more could you ask for?

Jake









Myself - Sheri - Tanya - Andrew







Myself - Marg - Jake





Erin



Well that about does it for today. You'll probably start to see some more posts as I get back to school, I bought a little camera so hopefully you will get you fill of pictures and the occasional video.

Speaking of videos, I threw a clip on the bottom here of a video a friend of mine and myself made at the end of Grade 12, it took the better part of all night to do, I think our efforts have produced a remarkable film with astonishing special effects and an epic plot that eclipses such works as "Moby Dick" or "Great Expectations", but apparently, by Hollywood standards is, and I quote, "Sub-standard at best!" But maybe you can appreciate it.