Chronos and Chairos

Finally back in the office after a crazy weekend plus a day. I need a watch. I never know what time it is. I've been checking online here and there. I broke my ironman six months ago. Mountain man needs mountain watch! Anyway...

Last Thursday afternoon I coffee-breaked a journal entry:

Had soupy spicy asian lunch with Daniel today. Missed a 2 pm conference call with some Baptist Convention boys in Ontario. My cell phone showed "unknown number" so I didn't answer it. It was noon. I was slurping soup. I was assuming they were calling at 2 pm "my" time! Oops. Contrary to popular Western opinion, I guess the whole world doesn't revolve around Alberta time.

Tomorrow morning I have a 7 am flight out of Calgary. Means I'll drive out of Canmore at 4:30 am. But I won't stay here in Calgary tonight. I'll drive my newly aquired 2002 VW Jetta TDI all the way home (this sweet little diesel gets nearly 1000 km per tank of fuel - I bet I could get to Vancouver from Canmore on one tank). I'd rather tuck my kids in bed and sleep soundly beside my wife.

Tomorrow night I'll be on the coast of Nova Scotia across from PEI preaching among Dalhousie University students and young professionals there. They want to learn to pray and get into "stuff" about the Spirit and the kingdom of our God and Father. So much fun. They are burdened for Halifax. Hmmmm. An army of young warriors rallying to Jesus Christ.

Tick tock. Will hopefully have God interupt us all He wants and take all the time He deserves. I think a lot of students are going to lose some sleep and gain a thimble full of eternity.

And that is exactly what happened. Friday night I got up in front of University students and young professionals and told them we were not in school and they didn't have to listen to a single thing I had to say. They were either going to be "spectators of" or "participators in" the divine nature of Jesus Christ right there and then. His Spirit was on the way.

Friday night, there was an ocean of tears and healing. People actually getting it. Climbing up and into Him as He descended down and into them. Praying over one another. Giving and receiving. Scripture, words, pictures - deeper and deeper with and for each other. Saturday morning, everyone sitting at attention and drinking up the deeper teaching of the word. A few people popping like popcorn. Saturday night, the hinges came off. Everyone floored or unable to get up out of their seats. The doxa/glory/weight of presence. Hours upon hours of prayer and obedience. People laying things down and picking things up. Declaring things. Trusting God with their hearts. Deep surgical prayers. People learning how to do the surgury. Literally, hands on experience of something new and fresh. Real healing happening right before their eyes.

For almost all of those present, this was the first time they had ever been that deep into the kingdom reign of their heavenly Father in one room. The Almighty carried us along for quite some time. The river was flowing. You could hear it. I saw gold flecks falling on one girl. Didn't tell her that, but told her rather what God was saying to her. It's never about the gold. The gold is just a sign. Just like physical manifestations... signs of intimacy. God letting individuals know that He is with them right there in the midst of that thing deep down coming up. Especially the healers/medics. Learning how not to carry other peoples sicknesses. Giving it all over to Jesus. Don't receive any of that stuff!

Learning how to let it go. How to see. How to hear. How to perceive and understand. People were beginning to see nations from above, praying for very specific things internationally. Learning to trust the words coming from the Father's heart. Then all at once - it was finished for one night. Jesus had left the building, so to speak. And everyone knew all at once that he was gone... for the moment. But, He is always on his way back to us. Hopefully, we are always on our way toward Him.

I always get a chuckle out of God entering a room full of people and taking hours to meet with them. Sometimes all day and all night long. None of us has any idea how deep the rabbit hole goes. So vast beyond all measure. So many churches full of so many people tick tocking their lives away. Giving God that one precious hour. If we don't stop we will never go anywhere. If we don't wait...

Prophets and Wisdom

Woe to you,
O land whose king
was a servant and whose
princes feast in the morning.

Blessed are you,
O land whose king
is of noble birth and whose
princes eat at a proper time —
for strength and not for drunkenness.

If a man is lazy,
the rafters sag;
if his hands are idle,
the house leaks.
Ecclesiastes 10:16-18

The kingdom of heaven
is like treasure hidden in a field.
When a man found it, he hid it again,
and then in his joy went and sold all he had
and bought that field.

Again, the kingdom of heaven
is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.
When he found one of great value, he went away
and sold everything he had and bought it.
Matthew 13:44-46

Buy the truth and do not sell it;
get wisdom, discipline and understanding.
Proverbs 23:23

In 1 Kings 18, it's interesting that Obadiah tells Elijah that he has hidden 100 prophets in caves (v 4, 13). Later, Elijah tells the people that he is the "only one" of the Lord's prophets left (v 22). Later, after the watery carnage of Mt. Carmel, God reminds Elijah that there are 7000 others who have not bowed the knee to Baal or kissed him. Then, Elijah throws his cloak over Elisha... and prepares for the interesting fiery journey of impartation.

Back to Carmel, I wonder if the rain had to do with the purifying of the land... all that blood of false prophets and ugly gods washing away down the Kishon Valley (v 40). Elijah's hands still sticky with blood - bowing down to the earth seven times - anticipating the rain ending three years of famine. Three years without water. The story starts with Ahab and Obadiah going two different directions looking for water and grass for their horses and mules. Creation groaning under the pressure... Moses witnessed the same groaning in Egypt. Moses and Elijah and Jesus... hmmm.

Back to Elijah: the water dumped on that sacrifice was worth more than gold. Dump more and more precious water on these stones. A prophetic act in so many ways. As that water was poured out I wonder if Elijah was thinking, "By the way, you don't know it now but there is so much more coming down soon. Can you smell it in the air? There is a torrent coming down and it will wash all your blood off these stones. Water then fire. Water then fire. Don't go looking up in the sky for fire, when all that is falling from that sky is rain."

Ahab's chariot got bogged down with water.
Elijah's chariot got carried up with fire.

I think about such things as I sit at my new desk here in this new office. My business card reads VP of Investment Relations and I wonder how I got here. I sit in an office full of saints and know that God is up to something with us here. I've been having conversations with new friends about their work in the oil fields of Alberta; Iraq; South America; Russia; etc. - millions, billions, trillions. There is something escalating... circular and telescopic... a redeeming of time and people and land which all have been thirsty and patiently waiting for the torrential rains to fall.

Last December, just before the Tsunami the Holy Spirit gave me something at the end of Isaiah 60 that had me asking him, "What are you doing? What are you up to that is coming so hard and fast? Give me eyes to see and ears to hear so that I don't miss it! I don't want to miss your day of visitation."

Then will all your people be righteous
and they will possess the land forever.
They are the shoot I have planted,
the work of my hands,
for the display of my splendor.

The least of you will become a thousand,
the smallest a mighty nation.
I am the LORD;
in its time I will do this swiftly.

Faithful in the Matrix

My mom sent me this pic my dad took of a hungry seagull. A few months ago dad retired from three lifetimes worth of work in management with Ford Motor Company. By the look of this shot he's now defragging his heart and mind outside the gridiron constructs of the industrial matrix.

Just got off the phone with Dar and the kids in Canmore. Everyday this week I've left the house at 6:30 am for the drive into Calgary. I'm sitting here in the offices of a brand new oil and gas company started by a good man who has over 40 years worth of experience in this industry. His wife has been at it with him for a dozen years or so. Someone else here has 24 years in the industry. The consultants... tons of experience out on the field. The IT guy just finished wiring up the offices. So I sit here and blog a bit... because I don't have a clue what I'm doing :)

Three days ago, I was moving heavy stuff and putting together office furniture. Two days ago, I was wearing a jacket and tie having lunch in a downtown tower with lawyers, engineers, geologists, landmen, and operations people - key players scribbling names onto nondisclosure and confidentiality agreements. Wow. Yesterday, my boss and I spent three hours putting a new touchpad deadbolt in the front door. Today, I've been learning to read land maps and oil/gas well logs. This afternoon, I'm reading books like "Fundamentals of Petroleum", learning various terms and discussing how to develop a Foundation.

I was offered this job a few weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon in Calgary - the first day of a seven day fast. I was sitting with this lovely couple over lunch. I shared with them something about trust and faithfulness that went something like this:

There are those who exploit and those who sell out and those who are caught in the middle who have to trust God amidst the smoke and mirrors. The place for the Christian is the middle - the least neutral place of all - actively submitting to God between the ones exploiting and the ones selling out, or being forced out. In that tight space sweating great drops of blood, the apprentice of Christ must understand that this was the way Jesus took. His path of resistance. And in that tight-quartered active middle of Gethsemane and Golgotha He taught us to confess faithfulness to the Creator and Restorer of all things, His God and Father.

One exploits out of lust for what an other has. That other becomes a powerless victim of the one who seems more powerful and dangerous. The suffering servant stands in the midst and neutralizes the process of one killing the other by being faithful to God amidst the beastly cycle of abuse - no matter who ends up dying - because for that confessing one in the middle, death is nothing to be feared.

We have to trust God in those pain-filled hopeless moments. We must resist the temptation to hate or become bitter and abusive ourselves. We can hold onto nothing and no one but Him who understands us amidst the pain (Psalm 22). We can't say any words that steal, kill or destroy other human being. The Spirit grieves over such deadly words. We have to perpetually confess our trust in and faithfulness toward the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Once the human side of the battle seemingly subsides, we have to continue to trust Him whom we do not yet see. How? By being obedient to His commands and by becoming more and more available to Him, being faithful with whatever and whoever He chooses to put back into our hands. Why? For His glory and renown.

It was right at that moment this smiling man's eyes twinkled while he asked me, "Kirk, how would you like to be the CFO of a new oil and gas company that gives a certain percentage of its profits to kingdom work!?"

First thing out of my mouth, "I don't know numbers! In fact, I am dyslexic with numbers. I don't do the numbers. I can't read numbers on a page.... budgets, spreadsheets... Can't do it! It's the one thing I've never done at all."

Then this guy reaches into his pocket and pulls out a 2006 loonie (one dollar coin) and puts it in my hand saying, "I just gave you that loonie. You can do with it what you want. You can invest it. You can put it in your pocket. Just add seven zeros on the end of it. That is oil and gas. Don't worry about any of it. I'll teach you everything you need to know. You have a good heart and common sense."

And he and his wife went on to tell me in various ways that they need someone to watch their backs; someone trustworthy; someone faithful to God; someone without greed or malice; and yet someone full of love and a lot of common sense... in an industry full of coyotes, so I hear.

That afternoon, I drove home to Canmore and told Dar and a couple of friends about the conversation. I fasted on it all week. It was the same week we were looking for a breakthrough in housing. On Friday of that week we got the housing. On the following Sunday, Dar and I sat down with this couple in Calgary and talked it out some more. That afternoon my boss and I shook hands on the deal.

During that conversation Dar asked my new boss, "So what does Kirk's role look like?" He sat on the edge of his seat and responded, "I know what Kirk's role is... in the kingdom... in Canmore... and I want to help him get there. Maybe him helping me here becomes me helping him there. There seems to be some crossover here. Only God knows these things and how they will work out. We are all on this brand new path together."

It was so refreshing to sit there and hear a man speak to my wife about my heart rather than my role in his business. Vision plus friendship equals task.

So we'll see where God takes all this. Needless to say, I feel like I've gone back to school.

One last thing: The night before my boss offered me this job, Dar and I were sitting with a dozen intercessors - all under 40 years old - all part of the intentional community life of 24/7 Prayer's Urban Monastery in Calgary. They were all in Canmore visiting Paul & Corey Wegenast and celebrating an Arts thing in town (hosted by Paul for his new boss) and it was also Dar's birthday. We asked these friends who love to pray to help us discern where God was leading us into housing and work.

We all sat quietly by the fireplace. Then many things were said. Someone said I had to fast. Another said it all had something to do with an exchange of numbers, a transposing of numbers. Numbers were changing places for me. Someone else spoke out that I had to be willing to give up the idea that I knew anything. That in this next thing I had to humble myself and be willing to give up the idea of knowing anything. Someone else spoke about investing money in the land. Someone else said it's time to get lower, lower, lower, die, die, die.

All of those things (and more) were spoken out the night before I was offered this job. Prophecy surfacing in spurts is like watching a constellation of stars form out of nothing. Creation Ex Nihlo or rather, En Nihlo - not creation out of nothing, but rather creation "into" the nothing. Each star comes out of nowhere and stands suspended in place until the fullness of the constellation is clarified and shapes into understanding in time. I had no idea the whole constellation would begin to be clarified in less than 12 hours.

I'm shaking my head just thinking about it all. We'll see what tomorrow brings.