Canoeing the Mountains, A book review /reflection paper

 This book by far has been my favorite leadership book. It speaks to the heart of what so many leaders struggle to navigate – gained ground in a changing world. It puts in hand tools to use when exploring new terrane in this post Jesus culture; an invitation to know what you know well, fight for it, in ways that both God and man is valued. To engage in the transformation of self while neck deep in the front lines – being assured that the arrival of a destination was never the intention of the master creator – but rather the transformation into the likeness of the one true Christ along the way.

The parts of leadership I thrive toward have been forging new paths, building trust, adaptation, and personal / organizational transformation. If the world in front of me is nothing like the world behind me, the opportunity to understand and learn from voices from outside of my area of influence must grow. I cannot default at my last best move to lead forward, there must be other places to pull from – other people to speak into the next moves. The people I learn from will come from a variety of backgrounds, live different lifestyles, and poses a diversity of world views. This is the adventure of learning a culture and being part of gospel infused into culture. The mystery of watching the Spirit settle on a people group and breath the words of life into their being.  On the other side of a new world comes those that will choose to stay the same. I must resist the desire to keep status quo happy, assess losses and allow trust to build as currency to endure each crisis of change together.

Building trust does not come easy. It takes integrity and confidence in the mission being consistent as the leader in every relationship and circumstance to move forward. What is most important to us; essential to the mission, who are we? Are we learning as we move? Are we changing as we move? These questions are central to a living, breathing, learning organization and her people. Clinging to the identity of mission, not allowing the strong cultural currents to push or pull the group, but invite forward into being and doing with strong foundations to stand on.

My deepest struggle has been in the sabotage. The internal resistance to change was not something my softening soul was ready for; and yet in God’s sovereignty transformation is being found through the sabotage. In the newness of building trust, and adapting as God transforms somewhere along the line I had lost my personal responsibility of being and becoming; So busy “doing” that my life line was slowly but consistently being choked out. Believing the voices of this worlds success, trudging the paths of those before to find myself lost in a new and terrifying place; regretting the lack of confidence to search the sacred path forged by a simple few before me. Seasons of walking alone to find my lifeless body being carried to and left at the mouth of an empty tomb – radiant with the lifeblood of the worlds Saviour. Carried by a chosen few who knew that my sessions at the cross had long expired to usher in a new era of looking ahead.

Isolation and independence contribute to enduring sabotage alone. One cannot lead alone. One should not endure sabotage alone. Sabotage is normal, sabotage will come, and when it does having equal partners to trudge through the mess together is life giving; its transformational. Knowing the facts, feeling the feels, and hovering above it all to recognise that shifting emotions inevitably will upset the balance of a relationship system, not completely obliterating the institutions core identity. Knowing the difference between relational systems and institutional systems will help navigation into unchartered territory when sabotage is peeking just over the horizon.

I have learned to be counterintuitive in my natural responses to sabotage. When I am struggling with trusting others, I force my being to lean in a little closer, ask the difficult questions, allow my opinions to settle and not always be heard. When I want to go alone, I reach out to find others waiting for an invitation, longing for a connection, seeking a listening ear. It startles me that I have found people that enjoy my company as much as I do – with no need to hide or be someone else to or for them. I am seeing questions for what they are, not my perception of what they mean to me. Getting out of my own mind to see another view of the world – watching Jesus play hide and seek with me in others life story as they share openly about their hopes, fears, dreams. I have begun to look back to see my place of origin teaming with the life of redemption and purpose – every piece being brought to a place of continual completion.

Each page of this book points to transformational change in unchartered territory. Everything has changed, everybody will be changed; especially the leader. In my time leading Upper Canada Youth for Christ I have found that some people are eager to step out of the boat, and others are terrified to. I am learning how to invite others, one foot at a time to step out, step in and if need be get wet – or as I often see it, go for a swim because it is all about the extended hand that rescues us from the undercurrent.

I have been so encouraged reading this book as it has affirmed my asking of new questions and forging new ground. I can continue to be told no and ask over and over again with confidence and bring the “no sayers” in close to help me see the problems in the plan before me. I am most encouraged that I can step past taking things personally when it comes to sabotage. It is not always about what I did or how I did it, but often about a groups resistance to change; and that is ultimately God's problem, not mine

Millennials flipped and shaken

I have become increasingly disgusted with the way the world seems bent to slam this generation for the bad hand they have been dealt, and am convinced that this just might be the generation to become part of a new movement set in motion by God to reveal something we have never known about Him...

Recently, I have come to know and work with a group of Millennials, and am delighted to share some of the observations I have made about them with you.

We will flip a few common beliefs about Millennials on their head, shake them around a bit, until your comfort level has shifted just enough for God to speak...


I'm not sure Millennials would want to be tagged as such. Do you like being a gen X'er or a Baby boomer? Assumptions being made about you because of your generation, blanket statements, and blocked ways of expanding your mind. Feels restricting right?

1. Millennials don't like to be limited to being millennials. Being boxed smudges out options, choices... and "A choice is more powerful when you have options".

Truth be known I am a closet millennial... I relate to them, and secretly love the nonchalant, care-free way about a millennial. The world is your playground, the optimism and unlimited potential in this thought is such a gift. It rests so beautifully with who their heavenly Father is, and what their Heavenly Father wants with them.

2. Non-tangible, unreachable, unseen things are a staple in a Millennials diet.
Millennials are good with plans being up in the air and allowing what happens, to happen.

Nailing down places, time and exact plans inside of a space can be seen as controlling. The misconception is that they are not committed. They ARE committed, they just are not committed to a "what", or even a "why"... they're commitment is held in the "Who". "What" feels too much like an institution, "Why" feels too gen X, "Who" sets their eyes on a relationship weather it be with themselves, another person, or God. God is not a cause or an institution and the "Why" lays face to the ground in the "Who" of Jesus Christ.

"The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” John 3:8

3. Millennials want to be part of a movement and know that in partaking of this overwhelming wave, their part will carry everyone one step closer to shore.

To know there are millions of people all working toward the same end and that that end will (optimism / faith) enhance the journey for others... that they have been part of something larger than themselves, breaths true significance into this generation. This opportunity may have been given to past generations, but millennials have the optimism / faith to know something good will happen. More than any other generation before them,  young adults can fix their eyes on what is unseen and know what they ask will be given.

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18 

4. Millennials are Entitled, and its not always a bad thing! (this point will make some of us uncomfortable)

They are "entitled" to the kingdom because it has been promised to them. It has been promised to us all, but once again this generation has been set up to know it will be given. Entitlement can be bad until it is true. Truth is, they do have a right to something. The word of God is all about unmerited entitlement to Gods favour. God gives His chosen people undeserved favour, because of Jesus Christ. The verse below should make all believers feel entitled! We have a right to the throne room of the creator, to look him straight in the face as Jesus whispers words of endearment over us to the Father.

 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:8-10

5. Millennials would rather allow the Spirit of truth to speak than speak truth themselves.

Is is a misconception that not speaking direct truth into someones life is tolerating behaviour. This is not what is going on. There is a deep respect for another persons life experience and because the "Who" is more important then the "Why", truth is exposed verbally with an invitation rather than a push. Millennials know that is it not their job to point a finger, convict or condemn, but rather to create safe space where the Holy Spirit searches and knows the heart of man. It is more difficult to sit with someone in their pain then to point a finger. This generation knows it is impossible to search the heart of man as God does. They tolerate / rather wait, knowing God will do His part as they do theirs.

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”" Proverbs 15:11

My prayer in exploring this generation with you is that you will no longer look at Millennials with the eyes of the world. That revelation is given, and expectancy is reborn in the generations that have come before them. There is hope, and there is a movement gripping the hearts of the millennial. Look at him or her through the eyes of redemption, through the eyes that have set up this generation to be the next one that experiences a new place in history where God moves so powerfully that it will be spoken about 1000 years from now. AMEN!

If Jesus is the answer, what is the question?

I hear mainstream Christians using the saying, "all they need is Jesus"... or "Jesus is the answer" far too often.  I'm not sure this is a helpful sentence to say to someone who has never heard of Jesus, let alone picked up a Bible to read about him...

It is the most truest of all statements ever to be made, sadly, to some the most irrelevant.

Jesus is no more relevant to people that don't know Him than you or I are... but maybe that's the point...

As light dispels the spirit of despair, and truth disinfects the wounds of a close friend so is the name of Jesus, the Christ, the living God.

"My boyfriend, the father of my child, the man whom I have spent the last 14 years of my life with is cheating on me"... Jesus is the answer.

"I have no food, no heat, and am being kicked out in a week... "... Jesus is the answer.

"My baby boy and husband were just killed in a car accident, I am so alone, I don't know what I am going to do"... Jesus is the answer

"I have stage 4 cancer"... Jesus is the answer.

Although true, cold is the human being that states this to a fellow human without Jesus, with such suffering... suffering... and why is Jesus relevant in our suffering? Why is the human condition showered with suffering?

"You see, they didn't understand. It wasn't the nails that kept Jesus there. It was love. "Papa?" Jesus cried, frantically searching the sky. "Papa? where are you? Don't leave me!" And for the first time - and the last - when He spoke, nothing happened. Just a horrible, endless silence. God didn't answer. He turned away from his boy. Tears rolled down Jesus' face. The face of the one who would wipe away every tear from every eye." (the Jesus Storybook)

Suffering: Jesus is the answer because He suffered separation from the Father, from God for us. Are we not to share in one another's sufferings? How could I live not knowing God? His love, His plan, the acceptance, significance, and security He holds for me...eternally. Not knowing God is not separation from Him, and yet their separation is not knowing Him. We are to walk through dark places with others and introduce them to the one that has already suffered all there is to suffer for them. Are we not to offer up glimpses of blinding light in dark places? Offer salt to unseasoned conversation, or on wounds that no longer hurt?

Jesus is the answer... but let us first hear the heart of why. There need not be arguing, God can defend himself. There need not be an exchange of intellect, although this can be entertaining. When you listen through the ears of the man that has suffered all things, when you walk amongst the dead, amongst the wounded, and see the carnage of this sick place we live in, it is impossible not to offer hope. Wisdom is known when it is heard. It is either life or death to those that want it.

Offer life with Christ Jesus. Offer it. Don't serve it up with a plate piled so high they have forgotten what they will be digesting, or with so many sides they have forgotten what it tastes like to be wanted, loved, known, open and full of Him.

Simple and pure, strait up not shaken or stirred.

Jesus IS the answer... be sure you've asked the right question.

Back to School Prayer...

Little hands hold mine, little feet with new little shoes, and little minds focused on the next shiny thing that passes before their little eyes.   I Pray...   Holding every precious piece of them from birth until this moment, a sacred ungluing of the heart, a release, for them to be carried in the Fathers hands, Fathers heart into a whole new world. A place I will not be part of. A place where they will discover, learn, unlearn, experience life beyond this home.   I Pray...   Fighting the urge to keep them close one more day, one more snuggle, one more life giving hug...   I Pray...   for minds that know the truth of who God is, and who they are. for hearts that feel Holy Spirits presence, love, grace for self and others. for lips to be bold in proclaiming Jesus Christ our Lord.   for wisdom flowing from the throne room of the Father into the lives of those that lead the minds of the future. For mercy, for patience, for Love that has a name, and has covered a multitude of sin.   for the protection of innocence, from evil, untruth, from the powers and principalities that desire to pervert, steal, kill and destroy that of which God has made to be good, beautiful, light and all that has been, will be, and is being redeemed.   Holy Spirit as a rushing wind filling the void in every hallway, before, beside and behind every child searching for a life made to worship their creator, our God, our Lord, Jesus Christ.   For You, Jesus to be known in every part of this, your world. A beautiful reclaiming of the sacred.   I Pray for the mom, the dad, grandmother, grandfather and guardian to fill this new void with you. To place anxiety, fear, worry, and loneliness at the feet of Jesus. To rest, be renewed, and fill every moment with the awareness of your presence in their lives. To trust a good good Father. To believe the words they read in your word, and the song they sing with their lips in their hearts.   As the bus pulls up, hold my gasp of surrender, wipe my tears, and hush the silent cry of my being to go with them where they are. I release them to you, they have always been yours. Please hold their little hands as they go... they will need you. With head buried in your chest, I feel your heart beat for every child on the beginning of this new journey. Trust. I trust your goodness. Even when I don't want to, when it hurts, when all I want to do is have one more moment. I trust. I pray.

"Find me when you seek me..."

...For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart...
Jeremiah 29:11-13


...more than anything I want to find you... not for stuff, not for anything but for you. I want to find you for you. To find another for stuff, for info, for influence, not for them, is hurtful... and yet you ask your children to curl on your lap, and confide, share, pour their hearts out like water before you.


What does it mean to seek you with my whole heart? My whole being?


The same Spirit that searches the heart of God Searches the heart of man. Searches the heart of this woman. What do you look for? See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

I will find you when I seek you with my whole heart.

Holy Spirit search me, search my heart, for only you know how to cleanse me, washing over me with hands that heal, arms that carry, and a heart that is unending.

Search my thoughts, replaced with illumination streaming with laser like focus to the throne of the father.

Reign in my words, the same lips that praise God and curse mankind; tongue with the power to tear down, and build up.

Infuse my veins to the tree you have planed by streams of living water... the ones that do well in prosperity or famine... Until the end.

How can I seek you so you are found?

As you surround me, and are the very breath that I breath, I see there is nothing that is no escape from you. You are in everything, you have made all things in a world waiting to be redeemed.

With every thought and for every thoughtless breath make me aware. Not being a game of hide and seek but rather seeking and revealed.

"Come and see me
come and know me
come and search my heart and make me... like you, like you, I just wanna be like you...

Come and see me
come and know me
Come and search my heart and make me new, make me new, I wanna be just like you..."

a modern day foot washing

Read all of John 13 to get the full picture...

Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. (John 13:1b)

“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” (John 13:9-10)

“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.  Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. (John 13:13-14)

"Slaves are not greater than their master, nor messenger more important then the one who sends the message." (John 13:16)

 Foot washing... What might a modern day version of foot washing be?

Jesus was spending the last intimate moments on his "death bed" with the 12 men that had been through it all with him. He stoops down to wash their feet. He stoops down, and with all of the authority given him, knowing his fate shares a very important part of kingdom success with them. Pouring out the last beautiful anointed words they will hear from his contained in human form lips, he demonstrates how to wash feet... a job of a servant... a job of the lowest position.

He washes our feet. As all of creation awaits, and has been waiting since the fall of man for this place in time... time takes a pause, angels breathless as their master stoops down to wash my feet. To was your feet.

Simon wants to be bathed, and Jesus reminds him that the clean need not bath all over, but just the portion that is the dirtiest, just the feet... feet that carry, feet that stop. Feet that guide and lead, crack and bleed, heal and run. Feet that are set on a path, and kept safe. Just the feet.

"...you should also wash one another's feet..." (just the feet)

Feet. I wonder if a modern day version of foot washing is motive questioning. As I am questioned, truth washes over and through my being and I am convicted, or affirmed in the direction my motive will carry me. The one washing through questions serves the one being questioned. It is not a challenge, it is not a fight, it is a gentle washing, allowing the Holy Spirit like water to wash away impurities of selfish motives as our feet once again are made clean.

And we can do this for one another.

Motives from the start will come out in the end. They either are clean and remain clean by the cleansing waters of conviction, or become muddied by a world that thrives to steal kill and destroy all that is good, pure and right.

Allow others to wash your feet. Allow the Holy Spirit to search you and know you. Jesus asked us to do this for one another, in Him. As painful as it may be at the time, if you allow it, God will receive the glory, and you will be found pure of heart, ready to have your feet carry you to the next place God has planned.

A legacy forgotten... a stroy retold.

"Remember today that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the Lord your God: his majesty, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm;  the signs he performed and the things he did in the heart of Egypt, both to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his whole country;  what he did to the Egyptian army, to its horses and chariots, how he overwhelmed them with the waters of the Red Sea as they were pursuing you, and how the Lord brought lasting ruin on them..."
Deuteronomy 11:2-4

Stories. Stories of deliverance, stories of disobedience and defeat... With stories we bring to life, paint a verbal picture of a place in time that something important happened. Stories also can remind us who we are, and why we do what we do.

This was done in the old testament regularly. The people heard time and time again how God had saved their great great grandparents from EGYPT... and what a fantastic story it is! The women would tell of  Moses's mom and the basket in which she placed their one day great leader. Then the moment of all moments, when the hand of God had written out those commands, history breathing a blessing onto a rebellious and stubborn nation. A covenant made, a forever future chosen.

Generations would enjoy the protection and providence of God based on the truth in the stories passed down from generation to generation. But stories, the spoken word, ceased to be told. Youth grew, grandparents died, and the nation of Israel would forget... Surrounding nations would crowd in and the spoken word, their legacy, the legacy chosen for them before the foundations of the world would be forgotten. Time and time again, like a children's fable lost in the back of a dusty library, the word of God would be forgotten.

Are we telling the compelling truths to our children about God and our history? Are we telling stories that widen the small eyes of a child, and truly make Jesus out to be their superhero? Or has your imagination taken a back seat and been subdued by daytime streaming drama and prime time pseudo porn?

Have you known what it is like to run through the middle of raging waters on dry ground while the enemy pursued? Or stood on a mountain when fire rained down from the heavens? Eaten beautiful snow like bread every morning, and watched water gush from a rock in the middle of the dessert?

Have you played in the mud that healed a man born blind, held the hand of a child once dead? Did you feel the ground shake as tears poured from the heavens, or seen the place where He laid in a tomb now empty?

And what about you? What about the story written in your life not on paper or stone? What about your story bears truth to these wonderful miracles?

My Grandfather having the right set of gifts in a war camp to sneak food at night; not only to feed himself, but feed the men that toiled with him day to day...

My life being a miracle after my parents believed God was greater than a diagnosis not to have "normal children"... named Johanna Eva because I truly was to them God's gracious gift of life.

"It is time to share your burdens" a wedding plan in motion between their father and I... as God knew the family I came from would soon fall apart, and nearly break my heart.

Stories. Stories of deliverance, stories of disobedience and defeat... With stories we bring to life, paint a verbal picture of a place in time that something important happened.

Have we allowed this culture to crowd in to the point of no return? Will your grandchildren remember Gods providence of a survived great grandfather through the war, or the healing power of a God who gives good gifts to parents that seek His face, and renews all things in His time?

Paint for your children a picture that is true to the faithfulness of the one who dwells richly in them. Daily let them taste and see that the Lord is good. Let us together, raise a generation that knows who they are, where they came from, and why they believe what they believe. It takes a village, no it takes a body, a bride, the bride of Christ to raise a child.

Father let us be a people that remembers your great faithfulness. Give us words and pictures to tell our children of the wonders you have done, and will continue to do into eternity. Let not the world crowd us out of tasting, seeing, believing and experiencing your goodness, for you are good. We Praise you and thank you for all that you are yesterday, today, and forever. Amen.