In Other News, the Dow Jones Twinkling Eye Average is up...

Yes, it is now officially broken down to a science for us. See how the markets did today, but don't forget to check the Rapture Index as well. Today, it's up 2 points! Fasten your seatbelts!!

The Rapture Index

In its scoring, please remember the following criteria:

Rapture Index of 100 and Below: Slow prophetic activity
Rapture Index of 100 to 130: Moderate prophetic activity
Rapture Index of 130 to 160: Heavy prophetic activity
Rapture Index above 160: Fasten your seat belts!!!

Prayer Therapy

I haven’t ever found any value in prayer, the religious duty. And I think, in our common perception of prayer, that most often it refers to asking for something. So we may get out our list and sit down in our favourite chair, and begin to ask God for certain things, whether noble or (let’s face it) selfish, but how does that line up with the character of God, and what does that say about how we perceive Him? Asking prayer lines up with the teaching of Jesus that we are to ask and persist in asking, and believe that when we ask it will be done, but I like to imagine that Jesus, being the masterful teacher He is, was actually pitting our internal wills against each other (ie. our desire to have something against our stubbornness to let it go). More on that later.

Having to ask and ask and ask for something doesn’t seem to line up with the character of God, especially His fatherly positioning in our lives. Luke 11:11-13 says “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" I realize the gift being discussed there is the Holy Spirit, but I think the concept is true for anything that we ask that He will give to us.

It always seemed an absurd idea to me that the more we ask for something, or the more we rally the troops to ask for the exact same thing, that maybe, just maybe, God would give it to us. Coming to mind are things like prayer chains, and prayer rallies, etc. This paints the character of God in dark colours, and our presumptions of who He is and how He views us seem to come from the shadows.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe there are certain times to gather the troops to pray, but I never believe it is to fill the offering pans with our petitions until they are overflowing with our answers. I believe God has instructed us to ask for things for other reasons. In a city-wide prayer gathering, for example, I suppose God may be more impressed with the implications of an entire city of believers laying aside their differences and coming together for one purpose, than what they’re actually praying for. Because of the unity, He may make happen what they are asking to show His happiness over that. Maybe amidst all the racket of petition, He’s waiting for people to speak out intentions or declarations which may trigger certain things in other realms (careful now!).

When it’s just us, quietly asking for a Ferrari in our favourite chair, I think His requirement of persistence may actually prove to build character in the beggar. In asking and asking and asking, and not receiving, we may get to thinking about why we want the Ferrari. It is then that God can gently tell us that we are placing too much priority on what others think of us, and aren’t finding all of our worth in God’s love. It is then that God gives us a deeper understanding of His love, because the real petition is made known: “God, I don’t feel worth a lot; show me my worth.” Ask and you will receive.

In a congregation praying for one of their terminally sick to be healed, in their fervency, maybe God would use that unity to bring the congregation as a whole to a new depth in understanding the ways of God, and His sovereignty. Maybe He would highlight areas where they are lacking. Maybe He would teach them about their own eternity, how to live is Christ, but to die is gain. Maybe He would heal her, maybe He wouldn’t.

It seems prayer, then, is therapy. It is like laying out on a couch and spilling your most sacred beans. It is less about life and all it brings, more about communion and intimacy. It is God working in our hearts to bring us closer to Him. Ask, and you will receive.

Christmas Shopping!!

If you're looking for some ideas, try Target: click here

More seriously though, go to the World Vision Gift Catalogue

Kathy Griffin at the Emmys

Warning! This may offend you!

I didn't hear about this until now; I wonder what would've happened if she said "Suck it, Mohammed!". Methinks she'd need an extra bodyguard or two. :)

Blessed, Broken, Given

I have always found it strange that the people who are considered our spiritual forefathers, the founders of the church, the workers of some of the greatest miracles recorded, were so glaringly
human. Jesus had spent a lot of time (three and a half years of constant working and travelling together) with his disciples; Peter, John, Matthew, etc. And yet, it wasn't until AFTER Jesus
appeared to them resurrected did they finally seem to start putting the puzzle together.

They had seen wonder after wonder, miracle after miracle, they had performed these very things in His name with their own hands. They had heard all the stories about rich rulers and poor widows, and had even had private sessions of insight into what the parables meant. They had Jesus, in the flesh, as their personal counsellor. And still, on the night Jesus was betrayed, Peter denied having ever met him - 3 times. The rest of them, who knows the true facts
of what happened to them, but they scattered in fear of their lives.

At that point, they still didn't get it. They just didn't get it. And this speaks volumes of the ways of God. Does he bestow his love on only the worthy, the fixed? Does he commission only the perfect? In no way. So the world will know it's Him and Him alone, He commissions those we would consider the last choice. He loves the destitute, the outcast, the sick, and makes true lovers out of them. His whole purpose is to create a family, to create people who can dwell in His love with Him. And grace is the best creator of what He wants.

Peter was filled with fear and uncertainty, thinking His best friend had been killed, and this was the end of His story - the whole thing a great big tease for the whole world. All of that work, all of the teaching - like it never happened! Do you think God was concerned? No, this is how it happens! We are largely products of our environment anyway, so of course, to be in the presence of a strong character like Jesus 24 hours a day for a number of years will produce in you a Jesus-like behaviour, sim-character. When He's gone, that's when true colours come out. [This reminds me of kids out of high school going to something like YWAM, and they spend all of their time in a certain controlled environment, and they come home on a spiritual high thinking they are going to change their world. They then of course don't have the support of the easy environment anymore and end up falling to old ways in a few weeks and lose heart thinking they've fallen out of God's will, and they look fondly on their time away as something lost. To be sure, there is a season for living in environments like this; Jesus did that with His own disciples.]

True colours are what need to be changed, and unfortunately, these are not "fixed" by creating an environment to live in. If that was the case, I think I'd be living at the monastery up the hill. And the thing is, true colours (ie. the heart) seem to be changed only when the gift is given and recieved (ie. grace, ie. salvation).

We reach a breaking point, a surrendering point, and at that point, that final moment of giving up, control can be given over to God. And we talk a lot about giving up control to God, but really what this is is love - us and God, it's always about love. This is us giving our hearts to Him, and Him giving His heart to us, in the most true love relationship we'll ever be in. This is not about Him becoming your master, about God wanting to be in control of everyone. This is about a husband and wife; you aren't only yours anymore, you belong to your other as well.

God's whole process seems to be blessing, breaking, and giving. I'm sure you can even relate this to your own life. Maybe you're in the blessing phase, maybe in a season of breaking (I'd think there's more than one), maybe you're in the giving time (where you are being given by God to others, in your love for Him). This whole 'Blessed, Broken, Given' concept comes from Luke 24:13-35 (click to read).

What does that have to do with anything? Well, it turns out, this account can be applied quite prophetically, and I'll let these lyrics to a song explain it:

Two men walked on the road to Emmaus
Blind to a stranger they met on the way
Late in the evening, they asked him to supper
To break bread together at the close of the day
The stranger took the bread and bowed his head
Then asked for a blessing then he broke it
Into pieces of three
He gave to these blind men this bread
Blessed and broken
And suddenly their blinded eyes did see
His life was blessed far more than I could ever imagine
He was touched by God's grace more than I'll ever know
Then he was broken by the hands of the father
To bring sight to all blind men who were lost on their way

After God blessed him and after God broke him
He was given to bring sight to all men
When he was blessed
When he was broken
and after he was given
God blessed him and broke him again and again

My life is blessed far more than I could ever imagine
I've been touched by God's grace more than I'll ever know
So let me be given to the hands of the father
Let me feel, what you felt, when you were broken for me
After my blessing, and after my breaking
Let me be given to bring sight to all men
When I've been blessed
When I've been broken
then after I've been given
Lord bless me and break me again and again
Lord bless me and break me again and again
(Cece Winans, Blessed, Broken, Given)

Be encouraged -- being broken doesn't mean you're lost, it means you're on your way to great great things happening in your life. You are a vessel, a carrier of the Lord's own heart (with all its love and power). Know that you are no less loved now, however unloved you feel, than the day you are finally "fixed". You are broken not because He wants to be able to love you more, but because He loves you more than He can bear right now.

Ridiculousness-ness

Come on, is this necessary? See http://objectiveministries.org/kidz/

When you need a boost...

This 11-minute video by Rob Bell will be sure to minister to you. Visit http://www.nooma.com/, and click the link to the video to "Rain 001", its location shown below. It's beautiful (maybe get the hankie ready too...)

Great find Chris!

Great Answers!

Last month, I asked y'all for your thoughts on Matthew 25 : 37-45, and I got some GREAT feedback. I love that we're all free to think and percieve things differently. The original post is this: Help! Anyway, I just wanted to make sure this particular response didn't go un-read - it's brilliant! John writes:

First, as a parent it is easy to understand that a child of yours-especially one that is in some way lesser than others-is truly an extension of your own self (just ask Jen). That being the case, the thought that "what you do unto them you do unto me" makes clear sense. We are all God's kids. The very DNA in each of us IS the image of God. He invented blood, hearts, souls, humanity. We are the extension of God.

Secondly, I think it's important to remember that 'doing' isn't always the point. If you love someone the things you do toward them will naturally (though not always) be out of love. You don't do them 'so that' they see you love them, but you do them 'because' you love them. They may never never notice what you've done, but that was not why you did it anyway. Jesus didn't die 'so that' we'd see that He loved us. He died simply because He loved us. Some people get it, some people never will. I guess my point is-don't strive to 'do' so much, but rather strive to love. I know it sounds cliche, especially in Christian circles but, try looking at people-all people-the way Jesus would. After all, the least of these that are spoken of and that are all around us are our brothers and sisters. We have God's homemade blood in our veins.

Disturbing Similarities - Neo-Nazism and the Religious Right

Interesting (and shocking) comparison between two [should be opposite] works: a monologue by a neo-nazi from a film, and an article from a popular Christian Magazine.

Take a look : Dinner Table Don'ts.

A New Brand?

I love this! Someone who isn't afraid to be real!

Kanye West - Jesus Walks

Healing Grace

I love the healing power of Jesus. Now before you roll your eyes and flip to another blog, let me show you what I did a while back. I was reading through Matthew (love it!), and I noticed a few similar instances where Jesus would simply heal everyone. There is a lot of teaching out there about pursuing physical healing, wanting it bad enough, having enough faith, spending enough, giving enough, and on the other spectrum exhausting every other possibility first, then asking for healing. But if you lump all these verses together, it begins to speak for itself. He is love, and out of that love is grace. That’s who He is – it’s beautiful to ‘watch Him work’ here. It talks about how He is willing to cure things, and how in large crowds He would heal them all before dismissing them. I am particularly highlighting the absolute nature of a lot of the writing below (words like "every" and "all"). This is in Matthew alone:

8:2-4 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.

8:15 He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.

9:35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.

10:1 He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

10:8 "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give."

12:15 Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. Many followed him, and he healed all their sick, warning them not to tell who he was.

14:14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

15:30 Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.

19:2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

And I love the grandfathering of the power, exampled here, to His disciples in Acts 5:16: Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.

I guess I’ll label this a meditation. We’ve lost this Jesus.

Calling All Jordanian Missionaries!

Racquel, if you're out there (I know you check in from time to time), email me. I've been trying to get a hold of you but nothing is working :s Can't say I'm not a little worried being in Jordan and all ...

mattcooper82@hotmail.com

Talk to you soon!

Legislating Gluttony

I am always bothered by the imposition by some Christians of their beliefs and values on everyone around them by political means. Mostly, it bothers me because it seems to be selfish. For example, Christians may lobby against legalizing gay marriage, but gay marriage is of little or no consequence to them. It seems the underlying motivation for this is purism; they want nothing more than a "Christian nation" if there can be such a thing, meaning anything that is perceived as sin to them must go, or must be made illegal.

This is contrary to what the Bible has to say on the very issue of homosexuality. In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 it says: "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” I think this is very clear that any of the above “sinners” (yet we are all still sinners), only limits themselves from entering the Kingdom, they don’t limit the Kingdom. And this is absent from the minds of many as they parade and protest, lobby, and vote. The sins of others are sins against themselves.

I am not one who believes you can legislate someone into salvation, how about you? If you make a person’s sins illegal, does it make them a non-sinner? Is a non-practicing homosexual not a homosexual? To make another point on that statement, wasn’t it Jesus who said that to even entertain the thought of committing adultery is the same sin as committing adultery? I'm trying to say that to ban a certain sin wouldn't get rid of the sin, dare I say, even if it went unpracticed on back streets and in dark rooms.

It also bothers me that these people are out there (defaming our good name mind you) judging for themselves which sins are worse than others. It always seems that homosexuality is the worst of all - the "triple X-rated sin" as my friend puts it. I could think of a million other sins to attack before homosexuality. In the Catholic tradition, there are the Seven Deadly Sins, which are: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride.

How about legislating lust? How about pornography, which is a $10 Billion (yes billion!) industry in the US alone, and growing every year. Pornography not only works its black magic on those involved in its creation, but the end user also gains the potential for serious relationship problems (whether they have a relationship or not!).

How about legislating gluttony, which, as we all know, is an absolute epidemic in our society. Why not limit the marketing power of fast food companies? Why not restrict morbidly-sugared soft drink companies from gaining contracts with school districts? All these things are actually physically killing people – giving them diabetes, heart disease, cancer, etc. There's a cause worth fighting for!

What about greed? Why doesn’t the Christian-Right lobby for restrictions on what you can own, or how much you can shop, or how late stores are open? It sounds ridiculous to us in our psycho-consumer society!

To all of the above, we can object and say, “It’s up to the individual person to make those choices! It comes down to your choice whether or not to be greedy or slothful or gluttonous or proud. The government shouldn’t interfere with that!” Well hello! How does that not apply to homosexuality? Who is it hurting? IMO, the above are worse and are actually destroying lives and bodies!

I would hate to live in a society where all wrongs were outlawed, quite frankly. There would be no real people, including myself. We would all walk around with a face on like nothing’s wrong and we didn’t do anything wrong, hoping no one catches on. In fact, that’s how people have lived for centuries in the church and under the reign of the church, or under the religious regimes of Israel (I’m speaking historically here), or under past and present Islamic regimes. In fact, in many of our present churches it’s the same; we all walk around like nothing is wrong, smile on our face. How horrendous to have no freedom of choice! How prideful of a government to take up the responsibility of legislating salvation.

I am so bothered by this; it turns people off of us, and could in fact be keeping people out of the church. How ironic – trying to legislate for the salvation of everyone is actually keeping people away from salvation. I guess our method is contrary to God's design (the same argument they use about homosexuality).

Life Finally Explained...

On the first day, God created the dog and said: "Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years."

The dog said: "That's a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I'll give you back the other ten?"

So God agreed.

On the second day, God created the monkey and said: "Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I'll give you a twenty-year life span."

The monkey said: "Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the dog did?"

And God agreed.

On the third day, God created the cow and said:"You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer's family For this, I will give you a life span of sixty Years."

The cow said: "That's kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I'll give back the other forty?"

And God agreed again.

On the fourth day, God created man and said: "Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll give you twenty years."

But man said: "Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?"

"Okay," said God, "You asked for it."

So that is why for our first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family. For the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

Life has now been explained to you.

(Author unknown)

Good

I’ve long wanted to write about goodness, but could never really find a great context for it, or a good way to explain what I’ve learnt about the word “good”. I used to think of “good” in the context of behavior, and to some degree this is correct, but there’s so much more to “being good” and what “being good” actually is.

Good is an absolute. Good is what God is. As the originator of all things – all things – his nature, his character, his essence is what “good” is. Good is synonymous with His name. From the present, we have to subtract all that is, all that has been created, whether visible or invisible, from the tiniest speck of dust to the furthest spinning planet, to every single angel and unknown spiritual force. All subtracted, there is God, alone, in nothingness. This is how it was. Try to undefine good and evil, and apply these words to this context. God, because He is the originator, the being from which all else flows, is the great standard. His nature is called “good”. Therefore, anything that falls outside of that, or that is contrary to it is called “evil”, or to better define it, “not good”.

To create a visualization, let’s say good is light. Light is the thing that is, and in the simple absence of it there is a contradiction, darkness. In fact, there would be no darkness if there was no light.

I read a great explanation of this concept in the Tao Te Ching, which follows:

Beauty and ugliness have one origin.
Name beauty, and ugliness is.
Recognizing virtue recognizes evil.
‘Is’ and ‘Is not’ produce one another.
The difficult is born in the easy,
Long is defined by short, the high by the low.
(Ch. 1, Tao Te Ching)

When God began creating, after each thing He would say “It is good”, meaning it is of Him, through Him, in Him, according to design and purpose. Essentially, perfect. And man, created in His image and likeness, designed in the very nature of God, was also said to be “good”. (As a side note, after a while alone on earth, something had changed in Adam, and for the first time God said about him, “it is not good”. But that’s another story.)

Being good then, with this in mind, is not a list of things you should do or not do, but a nature. And we see this play out every day in ourselves, and in our churches, and our world. There is so much effort given to attainment, but really “being good” is a given thing, an indwelling of God by the Holy Spirit. It’s of no trying whatsoever. This is grace versus religion, Jesus versus the Pharisees.

It’s a fine, sticky line though. The nature of God in us produces works that mirror the works of God – that which He does naturally, out of His nature. The works of a “good” person would cover all of “the Law” and then some. It was Jesus who said that unless your righteousness surpsasses that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven (Mt 5:20). This, we know, is an impossibility without righteousness being offered as a gift. And that, we know, is what salvation is.

A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’” (Luke 18:18-20)

He admits it – there is no one good. Only God is good – as the great Origin of all that is.

So we can rest easy. We can sleep at night. We can rid ourselves of guilt and shame and condemnation. "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Mt 11:29) As a newly married husband and wife become one person, living together, sharing life together, having children, they gradually become two parts of one whole, knowing each other fully, and perfecting each other. So it is with this, the Christian journey - to know Him is the final answer. And in knowing Him, we become like Him (1 John 3:2)

Believe In Me...

My entire existence has been shut down and brought back up again by the belief in God’s love for me. And this morning I was thinking about the “righteous” of the past – those unexpected choices of His. We’ve all heard about what we may call the ‘sins of the fathers’. Whether it’s Noah’s drunken episodes, Abraham’s fathering of a child through his wife’s assistant, Jacob’s deceptive ways, Moses murderous past, and so on. We tend to fluff over the stories of our forefathers – that would set a bad example (ha!). People might start to think they can’t get away from God’s love – we don’t want that!

In every case, God considered these people righteous. Since that doesn’t really mean much to us in 2007, let’s say He counted them as His own. I had these men in mind when the short video clip I posted a few weeks ago by Brennan Manning was also recalled. In it Brennan says, “I am now utterly convinced that on Judgment Day the Lord Jesus is going to ask each of us one question and only one question: Did you believe that I loved you?”.

I then thought of Jesus' words, that whoever believes in Him will be saved. What does that mean? Who is He that to believe in Him is salvation? Well, the obvious answer is that He is the absolute and final word of God’s love for us. It’s undeniable.

I remember quitting my job with the intention of making the pursuit of God my full-time job. It was the best thing I ever did, it was the start of a beautiful thing. I remember the hours and hours of studying and pondering, and reading, and prayer, begging for God to love me so that all my problems would be solved. I always told Him that if I knew that I knew that I knew He loved me, then I would be absolutely ok, that nothing would ever be wrong again. Little did I know that He already did love me. My mind had been conditioned to believe that God would only love a complete me, a perfected me. But the truth I was missing was that He loves me now, as I am, no less than when I’m “better”. Yet I was told that, and I head-knew it, but it didn’t make any difference until it was real knowledge, until I believed it.

I remember learning about Adam, how God told Adam not to eat from the tree because it was not good for him, not just because. If Adam had only maintained the belief that God told him not to because He didn’t want Adam to die, because He loved Adam, then Adam wouldn’t have done it. Our disobedience is rooted in our insecurity about His love for us. Everything that we aren’t supposed to do is a protection for us. The choice is because He wants to be loved in return. The serpent challenged God’s motives to Adam, virtually saying that God didn’t want them to eat from the tree because He’s afraid He'd have equals.

And now today, our belief in His love for us is assaulted daily, not only in the world, but in the church as well. Why do you think Jesus gave the Pharisees the worst treatment out of any group – in fact, they were the only group He challenged. These were the ones who tied up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, who “strained out a gnat but swallowed a camel”, who were “like white-washed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean”, those who “appear to people as righteous but on the inside [you] are full of hypocrisy and wickedness”, those He called “sons of hell” (Mt 23). These were the only people He challenged, and His words to them were harsh to say the least.

On the one hand, we have those things that God has said we shouldn’t do, and that is because He loves us and doesn’t want us to have to deal with the consequences of them. On the other hand, His love isn’t so short as our disobedience. He meets us on the other side with forgiveness and help. The great hall of famers (ie. Noah, Moses, etc.) were sinners – big ones! But they understood their God loved them. They believed His promises to them because they trusted that He loved them, not because they simply took Him at His word.

I’m babbling, not making much sense. I’m drowning in love today I guess. Finally getting the realization that He loves me right now in all His fullness and completeness (nothing withheld), has been the cause of the greatest transformation of my life. Everything changed. I got happy and free. My God is just reminding me of that today.

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,

that whoever believes in Him

shall not perish but have eternal life.

Meditation

For I am convinced that neither death nor life,

neither angels nor demons,

neither the present nor the future,

nor any powers,

neither height nor depth,

nor anything else in all creation,

will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8 : 38 - 39

Beloved Heidi Baker...

Desperate Times

In about a 5-minute drive from my home in North Burnaby, I arrive at the scene of a recent oil explosion. A pipeline was ruptured by the claw of a tractor, and Texas Tea erupted out of the earth like it had been caged for millions of years, drenching homes in the goop, and running into Burrard Inlet through the storm drain system, effectively destroying everything it touched.

I took a drive down Texaco Drive(weeks later), which is near the scene of the accident, and strolled along closed beach-front walkways at dusk. They seem to have mopped up most of the fool’s gold, yet thin shiny circles can be seen riding the ebbs and flows of the sea.

Yeah, I wasn't kidding. It's Texaco Drive.

In other news, there’s a new thick of tension stirring between my country and Russia over arctic sovereignty. It would seem there is an energy-rich hunk of sea-floor land being disputed. In fact, the CBC reports that Russia arrived on site last week, and dropped a capsule containing a Russian flag into the ocean with the intention of staking their claim. While Canada makes plans to “beef up” our northern presence and prepares to make a case for its sovereignty, it seems Russia and Canada aren’t the only two nations vying. Denmark is also out there trying to prove that Lomonosov Ridge is an extension of Danish territory (of Greenland), instead of Russia. The US Congress is considering a boost to the US Coast Guard fleet of 3 polar icebreakers. And on a sidenote, there is also some speculation that global warming may also grace us with a new shipping passageway in as little as 15 years with the melting of the polar ice caps. The arctic is abuzz!

There is a lot happening with energy exploration right now; from the pillage of the Alaskan frontier, to the pipeline-intending Middle East invasions. And this will not stop until the last drop has been sucked out of the earth’s belly. In fact, it is said that the explosion of China’s economy is strongly dependent on the supply of oil. And they are indicative of a world-wide increase for the demand of oil, both in emerging markets and in first-class societies. The way of the present/future requires energy, but unfortunately every type of energy we have created is just so non-renewable and unsustainable. Many analysts predict we’ve peaked in our production of oil, and that from now on, we’ll pump less and less out of the earth every year.

Image how society in North America would function without cheap oil. In fact, it would come to a grinding halt. We are a society whose infrastructure is based on access to cheap oil. There’s not a thing in the room I’m sitting in right now that doesn’t have connection to oil (by things like transport, manufacturing, etc.). We, unfortunately, are not to live this way forever, and knowing how our governments have acted in the past to gain access to more oil (as the demand increases every year), I’m afraid we’ll not see the end of war until there’s a big, final blow-out.

I’d say the dwindling oil supplies would be the cause of a massive world war – worse and more involved than any wars past. The US would be after the last reserves, the Russians would be after it, the Chinese would be after it, the Europeans would be after it, the Africans would be after it, Japan, Korea, Australia, India, Pakistan, Israel, maybe even some South American countries. It’d be the true world war.

I’ve been thinking recently about how our species has never before held in its possession the power to utterly and completely destroy itself and its planet. Not since the bomb. In the future, I can see nothing but devastation, in the truest sense of the word. It’s sad; I used to think we lived in the best era mankind has known with all our medicines and democracy and enlightenment. Our enlightened people, however, have probably made the biggest blunder in history building their entire existence around energy consumption.

We must wean ourselves off oil. It’ll kill us all.

A Good Recruit

We have a new hire in the office, and he is passionate about mutual funds. I wish I was kidding! No, he's great. He loves to help people, he's enthusiastic about life and living and saving money, and doesn't waste time telling everyone around him how best to invest (whether or not they ask for it! ha).

I guess old habits die hard. When I got a glimpse of his enthusiasm and charisma, I thought that at a church I attended in the UK, this man would be a target by all the evangelists there. He'd make an awesome Christ-advocate. He'd be so enthusiastic, and would tell every person he saw about Christ without fear; he'd have that sanctuary full in no time! What a good recruit!

I remember being in that atmosphere, before I knew anything. We used to sing a song called "Souls and Cells", and there was a dance to it. The air was completely filled with numbers-theology, and how to best get the numbers up. People like my new co-worker, with natural charisma and charm and excitedness, were targets. It was more an object of recruitment than pure evangelism.

But now I know a thing or two (I like to think so anyway). Now I know that God often uses the foolish things to shame the wise, the Davids to fight the Goliaths, Gideon and his small regiment to route a large army, Paul the Pharisee, the Christian-hunter to create new Christians. He never seems to choose the things we think are obvious answers. In fact, He tends to go for the opposite of our expectations. It is said that while we humans look at the outward appearance and make judgment calls based on what we see, God looks at the heart, at what is unseen.

I wonder why it always seems that those with the hearts most ripe for His impartation and work always seem to have an outward appearance which says they are the last person He'd select for the job. One of God's mysteries I presume...