Pilgrim's Progress

Meditation: Pleasure and Delight

>> Canada Files: Day 028

It's time to start reading through the Bible again, so I'm spending time in the Creation narratives of Genesis at the moment. It paints such a wonderful picture of God's creativity and his sheer pleasure in the creative act and in the creation.

And God saw that it was good ("very good" after Day 6 of Creation)

And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. (Gen 1:9)

It's no accident that some of this pleasure is felt as we meet to worship in GOHOP - most of it is created "in the moment" as we pray and worship, and create together. Yesterday, in the flow of worship, new songs were coming to us, and they seemed to blend so well with what was happening in the room.

This is so important to remember in intercession and spiritual warfare, that no matter how bad things have become, that God still loves his creation, and longs to delight in it again. Intercession and spiritual warfare often focus on darkness, but really it's about sharing in God's re-creation of how it was meant to be.

As part of this, I'm starting to create some ambient music to express the rich food that is being served up from these meditations in Genesis. Watch this space!

TM's Travels

>> Canada Files: Day 023

Whoopee! Monkey and I have got a gig on July 4th - doing an ambient set at the Freeway Coffee House, which is "an innovative, non-profit, fair trade coffee house and community commons in Hamilton, that was started in October 2005 and is committed to re-investing in the local and global community." They also have lots of live music.

You can see us mixing a track on the laptop in an earlier post, so now we're doing it live.

Here is a photo of us in the Freeway Cafe (with the stage in the right background). More later ...

Come and Find Me

>> Canada Files: Day 019

Has been a mixture of a day today. We went to church this morning, and I wasn't really in the mood. Today it felt like someone else's church, someone else's city. And then it was Father's day and the vast majority of the guys in church are married or are dads (they hauled all the guys out and made sure everyone was covered, which was nice). But a few reasons to feel I didn't belong.

So I walked around at the back, trying to find the way in to worship, and the Father's presence. And then out the blue, it found me. I opened my Bible at nowhere in particular, and there was Psalm 139, such familiar words. But there was a new promise contained there today:

Even if I rise on the wings of the dawn (I rose at 5:30am for a 9am flight)
And settle on the far side of the sea (Canada)
Even there your hand will guide me,
Your right hand will hold me fast.

And it seemed to set a seal around this whole crazy trip.

And it also reminds me that no matter where we go in search of God, sometimes it might be better to stand still and let him find us.

And the blessings kept on coming ... a real sense of Gods touch in the prayer time in the service ... the friends I'm staying with remembered it was my birthday this week ...

A Prayer Wherever you are Whether you've "settled" for now May his hand guide you and hold you fast.

Sign of the Day #3

Is it emotional solutions for eating, for solutions for emotional eating?

Is emotional eating the problem or the solution?

If it's the solution, what's the problem?

If it's the problem, what's the solution?

I'm confused now.

TM's Travels

>> Canada Files: Day 016

No-one should travel without a few trusty companions. I smuggled two little friends into Canada with me and they're following me round. You've already seen them helping me remix a track on my laptop.

The little bear is called "TM". We have a phrase back home - when someone's about to travel we pray for "travelling mercies". A couple of friends in the UK told me they imagine travelling mercies to be little furry creatures, and gave me my own "travelling mercy" (TM) to bring with me. Here is TM and his sidekick, Cheeky Monkey (CM), scoffing a Tim Horton's doughnut (or donut) in downtown Hamilton.

And so TM will be posting from time to time to tell you what he and CM have been up to.

There is a point to this too ... the friends who gave me TM are, I think, "modern monks" (someone called me this the other day) - pilgrims trying to live prayerfully in the thick of the community and see transformed lives through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is what "Punk Monk" is all about (see previous post).

So here's to all you Punk Monks out there, who often feel at odds with the system or the categories you're supposed to fit into, but who are following your call nonetheless.

Gathering Storm

>> Canada Files: Day 015

This image has been in my mind for the last few days, as I've spent a lot of time with people who are praying for God's glory to be released over the nations again.

There is a real sense of gathering momentum here, a sense that God is putting things into place in preparation for something big.

There is also a growing call for the "grass roots" side of revival too - the relational, incarnational work of being among people in Jesus' name.

I'm feeling drawn to both aspects, but not sure how they connect just yet!

See, I Am Doing A New Thing

>> Canada Files: Day 014

Yes, I know, that was God speaking. But I'm doing loads of new things as well ...

1. Jazz Piano. One of the other new faces at GOHOP is a trained jazz trumpeter, and he gave me a lesson in basic jazz piano today. I've wanted to learn this for a long time, and now it's dropped into my lap.
2. Playing with Analogue Synthesizers. If you aren't into gadgets, just move on to no.3! One of the other GOHOP worship people builds his own electronic musical instruments and they are such great fun to play on. But more than this - we share a desire to use all this gear in an atmosphere of worship and intercession.
3. Prophetic Prayer classes. I caught the last two sessions of an evening class on prophetic prayer and it was really good, and, I am pleased to say, really "normal" and down to earth.

Oh, and I finally found the perfect church - it does exist and it's right here in Hamilton!

Is This It, Lord?

>> Canada Files: Day 012

So I'm here, sitting in the Toronto Airport Church live mixing a track. It's the final day of a Creative Arts conference - so many creative people under one roof, I'm surprised it didn't cave in or something.

The doors of opportunity are flying open at the moment. Yesterday evening a few of us did a live set in the art gallery here at the conference. And there is an open door to do some worship at some local churches too.

There is so much creative arts stuff going on in the Toronto and Hamilton area that it really feels like I've been brought here for such a time as this ...

I've only been here a couple of weeks and it feels like I'm at home already. A few settling in issues remain, but a lot of the main things are sorted now - domestic stuff, buses, mobile phone and so on.

At one point in the film Shadowlands, C.S. Lewis (Anthony Hopkins) says "I'm here now. I'm no longer looking around the next corner. And I'm happy." And so I wonder - is this it, Lord? Are things finally going to start falling into place?

Punk Monk: New Monasticism and the Ancient Art of Breathing

> Canada Files: Day 008

Part of the reason for coming here is to explore what a life based round prayer might look like, and whether it's God's long term call on my life.

I was given a copy of "Punk Monk: New Monasticism and the Ancient Art of Breathing" by Jill, the director of GOHOP (Greater Ontario House of Prayer) where I'll be volunteering for the next while.

Here's what my eye fell on when I flipped it open:

"The glory of God always shows itself in an empty space"

"A monk or nun's life has meaning 'because of an absence of progression, which points to God as the end and goal of our lives"

A Prayer Lord, how are you emptying me today So that your Glory may come in?

Coming Down To Earth

> Canada Files: Day 007

Coming down to earth a bit now. Some of the inevitable novelty is wearing off and I'm beginning to see things as they are. Also beginning to adjust to the reality of life as it now is, taking stock of what has been gained and lost in the move to Canada.

Rearranged my room this morning, and it feels more like my space now, and I have a desk to sit at and blog, journal, remix and whatever else.

Today, I hope to buy a bus pass, a mobile phone, and some other things.

And the big thing this week is a conference at the Toronto Airport church about creative arts in mission, so I'm looking forward to that too.