Cheater, Cheater, Cheater.

Dear blog:

I feel like I am cheating on you. And I am sorry. But I am not sorry enough to change my mind. I have a new blog. I am laying you to rest.

SO EVERYONE... CLICK HERE:

It's just better.

So friends, if you want to know what I am doing... Follow that blog now, that's where my thoughts will be.

Blessings,
-kAt

Breaks - They are Important.

The more I read and study the Old Testament the more I realize the fundamental necessity of taking a Sabbath. It is not a nice, polite suggestion given to us, it is an authoritative command from the creator of the universe. I think out of all the Ten Commandments this is nearing the top of the list for most ignored. And I can understand why… I have been guilty of this for the majority of my life. But through discussions I have had over the last few years, and through studying Exodus as of late I have realized that this is far more than a ‘if you do this, you will be okay’… this is a YOU HAVE TO DO THIS.

I’m going to go through a couple of passages in the Bible that talk about a Sabbath… The logical spot to start is where we first see this idea of Sabbath.

So when and where is the first time we a Sabbath?

We see the God of all creation taking a Sabbath break after creating the world. Light stuff right? HAH, get real.

What I love about the first Sabbath, when God took a Sabbath is that it COMPLETELY dismantles one of the main arguments I have heard for people to not take a Sabbath is “I don’t need a Sabbath this week, I am feeling good, I’m not tired, I’m not burn-out, I can just keep on truckin’ along.” Wrong… you can’t!

The reason this text dismantles that argument is that do you really think GOD needed a break? I’m pretty sure He didn’t need to take a Sabbath, He is more than capable to keep on ‘truckin’ along’.

Yet, we see that He took a Sabbath. Why? To model for us that it is pivotal in a life that brings Him glory. To show that we NEED this far more than we will ever understand. He took a Sabbath to bless this day so that as we enjoy the Sabbath we will be rested, rejuvenated, renewed, and restored so that we can function at a higher capacity throughout the week.

Through God’s taking a Sabbath He forever blessed a day of rest for us, His followers/worshipers (Gen. 2:2). God specially blesses the Sabbath day for you and I to enjoy and to rest.

Rhetorical question time…

Do you think it is wrong to kill? Does the Bible teach that it is wrong?
Do you think it is wrong to sleep around? Does the Bible teach this clearly?
Do you think it is wrong to steal? Does the Bible ‘sort of’ cover this subject?
Do you think it is wrong to worship someone/thing other than the Lord?
Where does the Bible stand on creating and worshipping idols? Is it clear teaching?
What are we taught regarding being jealous for other’s possessions? Black and white, right?
Should you treat your parents well?
Is it okay to treat the Lord with mediocre respect, kind of like you do a nice pen… or are we taught to revere Him, respect Him, and treat His name with total respect?
What about lying? Is it appropriate or inappropriate biblically speaking?
… Maybe you get where I am going with this.

Those are the nine of the Ten Commandments paraphrased (see Exodus 20 for the full list). The tenth commandment, I’m guessing you can figure it out based on the previous 564 words on the Sabbath.

The commandment not listed is this

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

Exodus 20:8-11 (NIV)

When you continue on in Exodus we read the following about the Sabbath

“Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who descreates it must be put to death…”
Exodus 31:14

And my final passage I am using about the Sabbath is this…

“Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.”

Exodus 34:21

It becomes obvious, quickly that the Sabbath is not optional. It is entirely mandatory. We have to observe it. Not just when it is convenient, or when we are exhausted. One of my professors always says that the Sabbath isn’t just for when you need it, if you feel like you need a break it is already too late! The Sabbath is designed to prevent us from ever feeling burnt out.

Maybe you’re thinking… “Okay, I get it… I have to take time off, I have to break, it’s important. BUT, the thing is, I have this really important assignment/paper/test due soon…” Well, the third verse I used puts that to rest fairly quickly. For the Israelites (and you agricultural-savvy people, you’ll understand this very well) plowing and harvesting your field was absolutely necessary. No ‘ifs, ands, or buts’ it was their livelihood, it was their existence, it was how they lived, it was the means for EVERYTHING they had to sustain themselves. Far more important than homework, sporting events, anything like that nonsense. It was life itself for them. If they didn’t harvest in time (before the rains came or snow or anything like that) they would have no food to bring income to them and no food for the winter. And if they didn’t plow the fields they wouldn’t have a field prepared well enough for them to every plant any food. It was necessary, get the picture?

With all of that in mind God still told them “Take a break.” God knows everything, He is sovereign and is infinite in His wisdom. And with that all-knowing wisdom told us to take a break. I’m sure we can trust Him enough to take a break.

So the argument that we have something very important to do or we are too busy has been dismantled by Exodus 34:21.

But it isn’t just dismantling arguments, I think if we adopt in our lives a regular Sabbath we gain a lot.

We learn about responsibility and proper planning. If we know that we have that designated time of rest (whether that be Sunday, or Thursday night or whatever it may be) we have to plan around that.

It teaches us responsibility.

It teaches us to plan our time lives with maturity.

It teaches good life skills.

It sets in place a pace of life that is sustainable.

It enables us to engage better throughout the week with the tasks we do have to do. If we work all day long everyday, we will eventually burn out. That is simply NOT sustainable. If we take a period of time every week as a break, I can PROMISE you that you will be much, much better off.

And I don’t promise you on any authority I have, I don’t promise you on my experience. I promise you based on the reality that the word of God says so…

It’s a gift from God, don’t deny that gift… It is good, because the giver is good.

There’s a lot more power there than anything I could ever begin to muster.

Blessings my friends, rest well.

-kAt

How to be trendy in today's world...

Ellen DeGeneres calls this the Trendy Trending Trends. I thought I couldn't steal that title, so I wanted to give it a shout-out in the first sentence. So, task #1 with this blog... completed.

Now on with the meat of the blog entry... It is no secret that culture is always changing, people are always changing, music is always changing, tastes/interests are always changing.

Well, I'm not in high school anymore, in fact the youth group here in Cobourg didn't even know who Hanson was (I mean, seriously? Who doesn't know the classic song, MmmBop?!?!) So, I realized I am getting old and out of touch. So I decided I ought to pay more attention to this next, upcoming generation (that trendy book writers and culture-analysts call the iY generation).

So, here is how to fit in with this upcoming generation. According to this old, out of touch 21 year old...


1. Wear SillyBandz. Elastic bands that when they are not stretched, form a shape (i.e. Dolphin, Guitar, Bird, etc) AND, pay only 6 dollars for the thinnest bands of plastic I have ever seen. Steal of a deal if you ask me.

2. Be scared of clowns. It seems that everyone is terrified of clowns these days. Whenever I ask someone why? They never have a response other than 'I dunno, they're creepy!' They are scared of clowns because everyone is scared of clowns.

3. Whenever you feel 'zany, crazy, or loud' just say "I totally have ADHD." You wouldn't believe the amount of teenagers nowadays with ADHD or ADD... seems like just about anybody that has had a sodapop has ADHD.

4. Say you have a food issue. Trendy ones I heard a lot this summer were: Allergic to certain food items, Lactose Intolerant (the best was when a self-proclaimed Lactose Intolerant individual said she couldn't have the cheese while having 2.8 litres of ranch dressing), but the BE-ALL-END-ALL food thing to say you have it a celiac's disease. Say you can't have gluten... that's the golden-ticket winner.

5. Be the biggest Harry Potter fan. Ever. And second place in your heart as far as movies go... without question, Twilight.

6. If you are a teenage girl... Have a crush on Justin Bieber.

7. If you are a teenage boy... While in public always declare you categorically HATE Justin Bieber, but mimic his hair and clothing style as best as you possibly can.

That is all the advice I have for anyone growing up in today's world on how to be cool.

Goodluck friends.

-kAt

The Tension of Receiving Praise.

Leadership is an amazing thing.

I am fascinated by it, and always have been. I read leadership books and blogs for fun, I think leadership is vitally important (and inevitable-it will happen like it or not!), and I believe that good leadership is one of the most fundamentally important things in our culture.

Throughout the past couple of years I have had the incredible opportunity to be involved in some very cool leadership capacities. Through these experiences I have come to realize that no matter what area of leadership you are involved with there is always an awkward tension present. This tension is surrounding the object of affection.

A fundamental and elementary definition of a leader is that you have people following you. So, it goes without saying that as a leader your followers will look to you for their guidance, direction, help, solutions to problems and a whole plethora of other things… if your leadership is in a ministry capacity your followers will look to you for spiritual direction, for counseling, and far too often rely on you to be the holder of that spoon which feeds them their spiritual food.

Now don’t misunderstand what I am saying. I think a leader should do all of those aforementioned things. I think that is a beautiful picture of leadership (especially when it is done well!). Where things go awry is when the ego becomes engaged.

Leadership in a ministry setting is tricky because when something goes crazy in an individual’s life they run to you (the spiritual advisor/pastor/friend) for the solution. And, if you take leadership seriously you will quickly understand that YOU don’t have any solutions. So what do you do? (Or perhaps I ought to say… what SHOULD you do?) …

…You point them to Jesus for the solution.

Jesus contains all authority. So if an individual truly listens to your advice and runs to Jesus for help, they will find all they were searching for and far more than they were anticipating. When their predicament is fixed, they naturally, humanly think that you helped them since you were the one that gave the advice. The ‘follower’ thinks YOU are amazing because they think YOU helped them. When the reality is that JESUS was and is and will always be the helper. You did nothing; don’t be arrogant enough to believe you did it! Our job is to do nothing more than point them to THE ONE. Get it?

They may tell their friends that YOU did a good job in helping their spiritual life… they may even bring their friends to you for help. It is fantastic that they bring their friends to you, so long as you bring their friend to Jesus, because He is the only one that will help them.

Your victory was not (is not) in helping them, but in your ability to point them to Jesus.

Sometimes, too often, people miss that. I see far too often people thanking Pastors alone for their incredible message, or only the worship leader/band for the incredible worship (which is very kind of them, and I think pastors should be thanked for the hard work they poured into the message/worship/etc)… But, hear this… Far more than anything else, IT IS NOT ABOUT THE INDIVIDUAL UP FRONT! It is about the sender of that individual.

We are not called to work in such a way that brings the attention or praise to ourselves. In everything that we do we are to bring the praise to God. People thank the leader, which is kind of them (and I think appropriate) but at the end of the day we ALL need to thank God for His redemptive work through Jesus. That is what it is all about.

We are not called to receive the praise, we are called to bring the praise to God, there’s tension when that doesn’t happen.

Blessings

-kAt

Alberta and Ontario Differences...

I have officially been in Ontario for 1 month, 2 days, 2 hours, and 11 minutes… okay, I approximated on the minutes, but I have been here for 1 month and 2 days!

One of the questions that I have been asked several times is something along the lines of “So, what are the biggest differences between West and Ontario?” (and/or any variation of that question).

So, this is a list of the biggest differences that I have noticed.

1. It would be wrong for me to start this list with ANYTHING BUT the fact that milk is bought in bags in here. This is without question the oddest oddity about Ontario. I was so confused when I first got here where the milk was that I didn’t know what to do! I have come to appreciate milk in bags, in fact, if you were to ask me which ones tastes better… I would have to admit that I think that milk tastes fresher in the bags. But that’s beside the point… It’s weird having milk in bags. Feels fragile.
2. People here actually think that the Toronto Maple Leafs are a good team! Out West it is regular for a person that claims to be a TML fan to be mocked… but here, that’s the majority opinion! Such a large group of people so misled to believe that they ‘actually have a chance this year!’ Although, I have to be fair… It would be ignorant of me to ignore the fact they have looked very sharp the first two games of the year, and if I could quote a friend that is a TML fan, ‘they will be able to cheer longer this year!’ … my response to that is… of course you can cheer longer, probably two games longer this season before they are mathematically eliminated. And if I could quote another friend… The Oilers and Maple Leafs have both started well, but we both know they are going nowhere. Regardless, at the end of the day… GO CANUCKS GO!
3. In my 21 years of life I have never seen a more beautiful autumn than this fall. WOW! Ontario you sure know how to have a beautiful fall! The colors are simply spectacular – breathtaking – to say the least. There are no falls in Calgary like the one I have experienced here… in fact there is no fall really at all in Calgary - it snowed there the second week of September! (But to be fair, I must say that it was also in the mid 20’s there last week).
4. Lakes! I grew up in British Columbia so lakes are a regular sighting for me, but there are NO lakes at all like Ontario has in Alberta. In Calgary, the closest natural lake to drive to is over an hour away… and everyone in South-Central Alberta goes there, so it’s chaotic and busy! The water system here is absolutely incredible! I think to make up for a lack of lakes in Alberta, God gave them the Rocky Mountains (which are magnificent!).
5. Ontario weather = Consistent.
Alberta weather = Don’t like it? Wait five minutes…
Ontario weather is actually consistent with how weather should be this time of year. Weather in Alberta is sporadic and inconsistent (to put it nicely!) Like I said before, it snowed there week 2 of September, and a week and a half later is was 26 degrees C… What is with that! Here it is nice and consistent!
6. I was visiting some family in Brockville and I chose to take the long way home, I drove along the 2 highway for the majority of the way, and I noticed that every small town along the way has a Division St, Ontario St, King St (which is typically the #2 highway). Which is neat, there aren’t the same road names in every small town Alberta.
7. I have noticed that speed limits are typically ten km/h lower here than in Alberta. For example, the major highway in Calgary is called the Deerfoot; the speed limit on that road is 110 km/h… Whereas here, the speed limit on the 401 is 100 km/h. Does that make Ontario people more patient? Or reckless drivers so they have to have a lower speed limit… I’m not sure!

There are many more difference I could mention, these are the main seven that I have noticed so far… but the cool thing is that at the end of the day as many differences that there are, there is one similarity between Alberta, British Columbia, and now Ontario… They truly all do feel like home.

Blessings my friends,

-kAt

What it is all about...

It has never been about what you think you have to offer.

It really does not matter how talented you are, how rich you are, how generous you are, or how beautiful you are... what really matters is being able to say 'Here I am, and I am willing to do your will God.' Please do not get me wrong, being very talented (in any area, whether that be sports, academics, creativity, etc...), being generous, and any other physical capability are very good things and God desire us to use those for His kingdom. I believe far too often we buy the lie that those are our offerings and those are our sacrifices to God. That if we give ten percent of our income, or if we play for His glory, or if we use our creativity for Him that is all that is required of us... and that is where we get caught in a tricky lie.

Time and again as you read throughout the Bible we see this idea of physical gifts is not what God requires. Well what does He require? Here are three quick passages that tell us...

>We see in Amos 5 that God did not want sacrifices so much as He wants righteousness. Actions without a sincere heart that desires to worship, follow, serve, and be obedient to God has no significant meaning.

>We see in Isaiah 1 that God has more than enough burnt offerings (well I know that the majority of you are not practicing burnt offerings...so maybe substitute some physical thing that you 'give' to God), He has enough of our measly offerings... What does God want? He wants us to do what is right, to seek justice, to seek His face, to love those around us passionately.

>We see in Hebrews 10 that God does not want someone to say I will give you this... He wants someone that will say 'Here I am, to do your will.'

Do you think you have something to offer God? Or, are you willing to simply say, whatever you require of me, I am here to do your will? Check your motives.

-kAt

You learn a lot about yourself when you become the minority. . .

Words to describe a land.

The Minarets, the mosques, the keffiyahs, The niqabs, the hijabs, the soldiers, the call to prayer, the idolatry, the imperialism, the fear, the hatred, the anger, the pita, the hummus, the heat, the desert, the dust, the garbage, the lack of trust, the needs and the wants, the coffee, the lies, the rituals, the wall, the guns, the conflict, the religion, the hospitality, the chaos, the beauty, the ruins, the confusion, the history, the politics, the hurt, the tangible and obvious joy...

... The Middle East

It is a Beautiful Catastrophe...

(The Festival of Shavuot)

The Old City of Jerusalem is an incredible and fascinating place. For those of you that do not know what I mean, let me explain it to you. When you read in the Bible and historical books you read of a Jerusalem (for example, where David brought the Ark of the Covenant, where Jesus did some of His earthly ministry, what Rome destroyed 66-70 A.D.). But nowadays when you turn on the T.V. you hear about a city called Jerusalem as well. These are one and the same. Though Jerusalem right now is a modern city, much like Calgary in every way. From public transit, shopping malls, soccer stadiums and hospitals. But the kicker is the Jerusalem that you read in the bible still has its roots amongst this modern city. While it has been built over in many ways, the walls have been preserved (in the very least from Crusader times) and though the city that used to exist has been built over, you can still see some remnants of what used to exist. So in the heart of Jerusalem lies an ancient gem, what is known as the Old City of Jerusalem. This is a brief and surface level explanation of what the Old City is.

I have seen and experienced in-depth and into great detail this Old City. I have walked the streets several times, I have seen the "have to see" sites that the Old City offers, ate in the restaurants, talked with some local Jews and shopkeepers. I have been here with some of the best academics, tour guides, and teachers that the 'Holy Land' has to offer. In fact just yesterday myself and Luke came down to the Old City (via the Palestinian bus) just to walk the streets of the Old City for a couple of hours because we love the place, the culture, the feel of the city, and the people.

And let me tell you...

I can't even begin to describe the impact that this place has had on me. Theologically and Biblically this place has opened my eyes to many things I was previously completely unaware of. But simply as a human this place has really hit me.

When I see this land and these people I cannot help but think that this place is a beautiful catastrophe. Beautiful in that the multiculturality of this place(it is a word, just Microsoft says no) is so obvious and so beautiful. Within 100 metres here you have three of the 'holiest' sites on earth... there is the Western Wall for Jews, The Dome of the Rock for Muslims, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians (where Jesus was crucified and buried).

But this place is tremendously ugly and catastrophic because SO much of what goes on down here in the name of religion is such a far cry from what God calls us to. This morning (4:00 wake up) I went to the Western Wall for Shavuot, which is the celebration for Jews when God gave Moses the Torah (it's one of the three biggest days of the year for these people. Actually, this is the festival that the disciples were celebrating when the Holy Spirit came upon them in Acts 2) and there were probably around 10,000 Jews there. I couldn't help but realize the true meaning of many of Jesus' words as I looked around at the Jews. People were praying loudly, praying in public, dressing to get attention, carrying huge phylacteries to show how 'spiritual' they are, doing these routines so that everyone sees them (and the list goes on)... I go to the Dome of the Rock where there are Muslims reciting Qur'an, being in their Qur'an studies, and doing their call to prayer five times a day... all to their god.

There is so much religion here, but so little relationship with God. It's heartbreaking. The landscape of Jerusalem is beautiful, the cultural here is heart breaking... and I haven't even touched on the political reality of this land, and that is the real kicker. This place is so much more complex and complicated than I could have ever imagined at the beginning of my trip.

The more I have come to know, the more I realize I really don't know anything, that's the true adventure I suppose!

Hope you are all well,

-kAt

Rooftop Thoughts from Jerusalem

It is a beautiful thing… I am lounging on the roof of Tantur Ecumenical Institution sitting in the well over thirty degree Jerusalem heat at a loss for words of the incredible panoramic view that lies 360 degrees around me.

The Biblical history that surrounds me right now is in many ways overwhelming, certainly beyond my comprehension. If I were able to travel back through the pages of history in the exact location I currently am in I would see some of the most amazing things that have ever taken place on planet earth.

Directly in front of me is Bethlehem (no more than a five minute walk), behind me is the Old City of Jerusalem, and all around me is the desert that is so often referred to in the Bible. If I had this time traveling machine I would be able to see the shepherds being greeted by the angels on the hills directly in front of me (Luke2:8-20), I would be able to see on one of the many hills in front of me a scared, recently widowed, and loving Ruth gleaning the fields of Boaz (Ruth 2:1-23), I would be able to see the hectic busyness of Bethlehem because of Caesar Augustus’ issued decree, I would see many faithful Jews returning to their home town, I would see Mary and Joseph travel across this very hill-laden land as Mary was having her contractions, about to give birth to the saviour of the world, I would see a terrified Abraham as he traveled to the current location of the Dome of the Rock to Rock to obediently sacrifice his son Isaac (Genesis 22). I would see the Israelites under David’s guidance take the Ark of the Covenant to the Old City of Jerusalem, I would see Jesus walk these hills with His disciples as He taught them, I would see Amos walk nervously from Tekoa (just on the far side of Bethlehem) to deliver a message that God had given him, I could see all of the events that take place on the Mount of Olives, and I could see King David as he stayed back in Jerusalem while his army went past here to go to war (this is what led to his tragic moral failure with Bathsheba). This is I would see many, many other biblical events. While I cannot see all of these places clearly, I can definitely see all of these locations with a good set of binoculars (there general region invisible)...

That’s the Biblical history, but what about the more recent history?

Directly in front of me is a thirty foot wall that serves as a constant reminder to the Palestinians that they are not wanted, appreciated, liked or cared for at all in Israel. That “their kind of people” are to stick in Bethlehem. If any Palestinians want to get into Jerusalem they have to go through a jail of a system, through barbed wire and chain link fence just to step foot into a city that is literally ten feet away. A heartbreaking reminder of what happens when people reject Jesus and live according to their own plans. If I were here only a few years ago I would literally have people all around me (on this very rooftop, no lie) with machine guns, sniper rifles, grenades and other weapons of murder as bombs flew over my head.

My central location between Jerusalem and Israel is at the very heart of so many pivotal events in history (both biblical and politically) it really is wild to think that I am sitting right here, right now in peace and security at the very heart of so much world political and religious history.

It is a crazy region of the world, but one loaded with so much history... More will be coming!

-kAt

Next up - Jordan!

(that is me with the Monastery at Petra behind me)
(that is me sticking my feet in the Jordan River)

I had been extremely excited to visit Jordan from the moment I found out I would be going there. I had heard nothing but incredible things about this country and knew going in that it was going to be an amazing experience. There are some beautiful sites to be seen in this nation, that is for sure! Of course many people through the Indiana Jones movie (The Last Crusade) had heard of Petra, and then there is Jerash, and many, many other sites that I was looking forward to experiencing. But again as this trip has the tendency to do,it completely blew what I was expecting way out of the water.

So for the same reason that I did my Syria entry point form, I will be doing my Jordan one the same way. Point form, otherwise I would be writing a full-on novel.

- Bethany beyond the Jordan... According to most scholars (as of late) this is the most likely location of Jesus' baptism (John 2)
- The location of Mark 8
- Pella, a town (used to be part of the Decapolis) that many Jews ran to during the destruction of Jerusalem in 66-70
- Jerash, some absolutely incredible Roman ruins are here, another town of the Decapolis
- The Citadel in Amman, found here is what used to be a temple of Zeuss, a museum (where some dead sea scrolls are), incredible view of the city of Amman, and this is what used to be known as Philadelphia.
- Mount Nebo, the location Moses was taken to so that he could see the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 34)
- Maecherus, The location of a Herodian fortress overlooking the Dead Sea. It is here that on Herod's birthday he was so pleased by a dance from Herodias' daughter that he promised her anything she wanted... and hence this is the place of John the Baptist beheading.
- Madaba, the capital of Mosaics. Absolutely incredible. Here also, is the oldest map of Jerusalem (it's a mosaic) and so far it is so historically accurate that they can make archaeological digs based on what this mosaic map says.
- Wadi Rum Desert
- Mount Ur, the place that Aaron (Moses' brother) was buried
- Petra
- Watermelon in Jordan... for anyone who has ever had Watermelon in Jordan you know that this is completely worth mentioning. It is absolutely unbelievable how delicious the watermelon in Jordan is.

The coolest experience so far has been all that took place in the Wadi Rum desert! Without a question! When we first pulled up to the desert we were told to load up all of our bags into one haggard looking truck and to pile into the beds of all the other trucks (there were seats...kinda). Once we were all in the back of these seats
the trucks tore off into the desert. We really got there at the perfect time because as we were taking off into the desert sand (which is the most incredible colour of red you could imagine) the sun was just beginning to set. As the sun set over the red mountains, the red sand and our trucks we tore by camels, bedouin tents, and the most incredible views of this picturesque desert you could imagine. As the trucks pulled up to a Bedouin encampment we were told that is where we were staying for the night - it was so cool! We all had our own two person tent-type structures to sleep in for the night in the middle of the desert. So we settled in to our camp and once that was all completed were invited into the communal tent structure (thing) to have the best tea I have ever had and we just lounged out. It was the most incredible way to end a day. Lounging around a campfire, having amazing tea with some great people. Not to mention the perfect sense of peace you have in the desert. There was no sound pollution, no noise pollution whatsoever, and nobody else around me except for the group I am with, and I like the group, so that helps!

After staring at the most amazing starscape (not landscape, but starscape... I came up with that on my own, impressed?) I have ever seen I went to bed. It was a pretty neat thought that the very stars I was staring at while I laid on the wadi rum desert floor were the exact same ones that I have stared at while laying on the docks at Eagle Bay Camp, my home, a certain Cochrane field and other places all around Canada. We as humans really are so small compared to the world that we live in.

The next morning we woke up and had some breakfast (again, the tea was amazing!!!) and we took off, but not in the direction back to the nearest city as I would have thought but out into the desert some more! We went for a couple hour trek through the Wadi Rum! It was amazing! We stopped at this archway that was probably a hundred feet up, of course I climbed up it (I am kind of climbing everything I can), we stopped at a sand dune which a handful of us ran up just so we could run down at (what may be literally) breakneck speed. We stopped at this HUGE canyon, which again, I climbed way too far... it was legit scary trying to get down, my adrenaline was going pumping SO hard. And we drove past a lot more camels, some pretty amazing mountains, some other Bedouin places. It was the most incredible start to a morning you could imagine!

I think it is pretty obvious why staying in the Wadi Rum for a night was incredible. I just talked about all of the physical things that were cool, I did not even mention the amazing spiritual things that the desert represents (on purpose, that's coming up when I talk about Israel, I'm continuing on this idea of desert spirituality later on!)

I could also write a book about Petra but I will save you the time. But Petra is one of the seven modern wonders of the world, and it is very clear why! This place is absolutely incredible. The Nabateans carved a village literally into mountains. From graves, houses, monasteries, treasuries and everything else they need, it was all carved into mountains. Google image Petra, you'll see exactly what I am talking about!

Much love friends,

-kAt

Where in the world is Kyle Alexander? (Syria!)

Eighteen days ago I had no idea what I was about to embark on. I knew that I was having the amazing opportunity to experience Syria, Jordan and Israel for the next five weeks. But I had no idea the way in which this would happen, the amazing things I would experience, the challenging things I would see and have to wrestle through, and the biblical/political history I would be thrust into. I must admit that the last eighteen days have been a total and complete hurricane. I have been inundated with information, dates, historical events, political statements and spiritually challenging thoughts, and religious history. If it wasn’t for journalling I would have lots way too many of these things because no human can retain all that has been pushed onto my plate the last few weeks… But what an amazing adventure I am able to be on! I am so thankful, so blessed, and still so very surprised that I am where I am right now.

I must admit that Syria completely rocked my world. When you think of Syria what would you expect to see? I was expecting a desert wasteland as far as the eye could see… And while part of Syria’s landscape is certainly desert wasteland (they have the Syrian desert) there is so much more than that. There are snow covered caps, there are lush, lush forested regions, there are rock deserts, there are rivers, there are rolling hills that would make Kentucky jealous, there are olive trees as far as your little eyes could take your vision, there are the most loving, kind and hospital people you have ever encountered. The Biblical history is rich in Syria, the Islamic tradition has many routes in Syria, and our own Christian history is far, far beyond what I had expected to see in this land.

I spent one week in Syria and instead of writing about everything that we had the opportunity to do (because that would be several, several hours of writing) I will just put down in point form the things I was able to see… If you have any questions about anything I saw I have absolutely no problem talking to you about it… But if it were me trying to read someone else’s blog I would be far too intimidated by a blog that went on forever, I would much rather just get the short and to the point facts… so here are the incredible things I was able to experience in Syria:
-Had a discussion with the Mufti of Damascus about Islam/Christianity, a “spiritual discussion between East and West on Contemporary Human Problems.”
- Went to the Sheik’s house after the discussion. It turned out to be a several hour time of just having community with our Muslim friends from Damascus… Amazing night!
- Musee National – an incredible museum with artifacts from all time periods and civilizations
- The Souk – a RIDICULOUS shopping strip in Damascus
- Umayyad Mosque – A huge mosque at the heart of Damascus. Also, I saw the shrine where John the Baptist’s head is kept (so they claim).
- Salahuddin’s Grave – the Muslim hero (he defeated the crusaders) grave
- Azem Palace – A palace right next to the Umayyad Mosque
- The House of Annanias – To commemorate Annanias’ bravery for praying over St. Paul
- Straight Street - Acts 9
- St. Paul’s Church – A Church to commemorate his escape from the walls of Damascus
- Ma’aloula - the only city where Jesus’ language, Aramaic is still spoken as a primary language
- St. Serge and Bacchus’ Convent
- St. Theckla’s Divide – Where an amazing story (we read about it outside the canon) of an early Christian saint, and the first female convert of Paul’s miraculous escape from evil pagan sorcerers.
- The Krak Deschevalier – An incredible castle the Crusaders were involved with (here is where I had the most ridiculous fan club of about thirty boys)
- Salahuddin’s Castle (built into a mountain)
- The site where St. Simeon the Stylite lived on top of stylite for his escape to ascetism
- Church of the Forty Martyrs – The church dedicated to an amazing group of early Christian martyrs, what a powerful story this is (ask me about it, if you are curious!)
- The Citadel in Allepo – Another castle, but from Salahuddin’s son
- Palmyra – INCREDIBLE Roman Ruins (including a Temple dedicated to Baal)
- Monastery of Moses – Desert Spirituality
- Bagdad Café – it was talked about in National Geographic
- The place commemorating (believed to be)where Paul saw Jesus on the road to Damascus

I think I will talk about my very favourite part of this trip… and that is all wrapped up under the idea of desert spirituality. Both the Monastery of Moses and the place of Simeon the Stylite have direct relations to desert spirituality. First, the crazy, crazy man Saint Simeon the Stylite. He grew up in a Christian home and at the age of 13 he developed an intense zeal or passion for following Christianity with all that he was. For him, to be a Christian meant denying anything other than Jesus, and for him it was such a strong conviction (almost a compulsion) that it drove him to do some very wild things. When he was still a young man (before 16 years old, most likely) he decided to fully embrace the monastic lifestyle and went to live in a monastery. He denied his body foot (he went all of lent without eating or drinking, which many considered a miracle), he fasted, he committed to standing for long periods of time so that his feet were swollen and badly injured, he would tie things around himself so tightly that it would cut himself, and eventually he decided he would deny himself everything but the very basics. So he went to live in a narrow space, Simeon went to live in a narrow mountain crevice/room. But so many people heard of what Simeon was doing and they sought him out for wisdom/counsel as he lived in this mountain that he decided he would live atop a pillar. And that is what this site was all about, it was the place that this pillar he lived on was, and part of his pillar is still there.

Secondly was the Monastery of Moses. This was a monastery in the middle of the Syrian Desert nestled in the heart of some Syrian mountains. This monastery’s purpose (to this day) is for people to escape from the madness and craziness of everyday life, from the chaos, confusion, hectic pace of life and to retreat to, well, essentially nothing. This is a monastery that mimics the example Jesus laid out for His believers when He went to the mountains, hills, and deserts and prayed to God, fasted, and lived a simple life… Also what John the Baptist did, Elijah, David, etc…

This whole idea of desert spirituality is so challenging for me because I am such a “go-go-go” type person. I am always on the move, always running around, always busy… and in many ways that is how I thrive. But how often do I truly retreat from the madness and busyness of my life and just be still, silent and quiet before my God? Rarely! It is something I need to work on, something I need to be challenged to do (and have been lately by some special people in my life) and something I need to continually strive for, always. I bought a postcard from this place to keep in my Bible as a continual reminder that as I read my Bible I ought to be still, silent and quiet before God…. Something that is always difficult for me to do, but something that I am (and you are!) biblically commanded to do. Now do not worry, I am not going to go all Simeon the Stylite on you, I have no plans to live atop a pillar, for me, that is not my style. But I do need to do a better job of retreating from the madness of my world and dwelling in the calming and peaceful presence of my God.

One more thing that was completely eye-opening for me while being in Syria was that for the very first time I heard the call to prayer. I had never heard it before nor had I experienced the commanding presence that the call demands. On a purely musical level I think that it is beautiful. And on a religious level I love how religiously people adhere to the call to prayer. No matter where they are, what they are doing or anything else they will stop and pray when the call goes off. But in many ways it completely broke my heart and I made a point to pray to MY God for the Muslims as they prayed to their god. As you drive through Syria (and Jordan, and Israel even) no matter where you are at any point at any time of day you can point out a minaret. I think they are beautiful in creation and idea, but it was heartbreaking for me to see just how lost and confused these people are. In many ways they are not so far off, much of what they hold and adhere to is very Biblical… but they are one step off and that is the revelation of who Jesus is… Much like Saul of Tarsus, they are so close to the truth, but they are ONE step off and that step makes all the difference. The people I met in Syria so desperately and badly need Jesus.

But, at the end of my time there I can stand back and say that I absolutely LOVE Syria. I had an amazing time being in community with our Muslim friends at the Sheik’s house, and I had a pretty hilarious encounter with the thirty boys from Allepo at the top of the Crac Deschevalier. I love the Syrian culture and landscape and people.

Much love friends,

-kAt

Where in the world is Kyle Alexander? (London, England)

We flew out of Calgary and landed in the world-class Heathrow Airport in London. We had an eleven hour layover so we were able to run into London for a little bit where I was able to see and experience many of the famous things that make London, London. I saw Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, the Parliament Buildings, the Thames River (and the crazy culture that runs alongside it), Tate Modern Museum, London Bridge, Trafalger Square, Downing Street, St. Paul’s Cathedral (and went to evensong there), I experienced the tube (Any of you that have had the experience know what I mean when I say “please mind the gap”), and of course I had to go for fish and chips at an authentic London pub! It was a crazy couple of hours but an incredible one. It was a hectic couple of hours but they were amazing! I got to see a lot of things I had only heard about or been told about!

After the madness of running around London we left for Damascus at 11 o’clock at night and did not arrive in Syria until 4 in the morning. Wow! Tiring. Three continents in 24 hours… pretty nuts!

-kAt

... And I'm off!

Hey friends!

Today I leave for an amazing adventure! In a few short hours I will be flying over the Atlantic Ocean (for the first time) to embark on a five week trip where I will be in Jordan, Syria and Israel! I am going to the Holy Land and will be seeing the places that the events that we read about in the Bible took place and see where our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, lived, walked and did His ministry. I will be trying to keep you all updated as much as possible through this and facebook! I am so, so excited for this trip and cannot wait to see what I will be able to see and learn a lot of new things!

God bless and take care!

-kAt.

This Defines Your Life... (copied from my other blog)

It is the Easter season and it seems a natural thing to reflect on the power and importance of this weekend... It seems to me that no matter who you are that what you believe about this weekend radically changes the way you live your life.


This weekend has radically shifted the entirety of history. I am not even making that statement as a Christ follower (though I certainly am that). No matter who you are you have to admit that this weekend, Easter weekend, has shifted the very course of history and the future in ways that we will never fully understand.


The reality is that whether you are Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Christian or Atheist this weekend completely defines the way you live your life.


You are either living your life for Jesus or you are not. If you live your life for Jesus it would be because you admit and accept that He died on the cross for you and was risen again by the power of God three days later. If you are not living your life for Jesus you would admit that you do not believe Jesus is the Son of God and that He did not rise from the grave three days after He was brutally killed on the Cross.


Easter weekend defines the way you live your life...


Are you living your life striving to be the best follower of Jesus knowing that He went through the most brutal of deaths so that you may live in right relationship with the Father?


... I say this often and I will say it again here in closing. I refuse to believe that when we die and stand before Jesus, with the holes in His hands, would be glorified and honoured by His followers living mediocre and ordinary lives. The empty grave ought to be a compelling and motivating factor to the point that there is a noticeable reality in the way we live our lives.


He is Risen,

-kAt

Riddle me this ...

If Jesus is truly dead how do you possibly justify the fact that 3,000 people decided to follow Him just weeks after the resurrection. These were the people that would have seen Jesus' life, they would have seen Him die, and there is a very large chance they would have seen Jesus after He resurrected... If they personally did not see Him they would have known someone who had, guaranteed. They lived in a city that was buzzing with news of Jesus... If Jesus had NOT truly been resurrected everyone would have known it, it would have been disproved immediately and the buzz about Jesus would have died, even Judas the Galilean acknowledges this reality in Acts 6.

These three thousand individuals were not stupid, naive, or brainwashed, they were just an ordinary crowd in Jerusalem. They would have been people just like you and I. If I had someone preaching to me that Jesus had risen again I would go and ask my cousins, neighbours, friends, coworkers to see if they had heard or seen anything, and in all likelihood at least one of them would have either seen Jesus or knew someone who had seen Him post-resurrection, or not. Jesus walked on earth for forty days after His resurrection (Acts 1:3) which is enough time for many people to have seen Him.

If He had not risen from death there is NO WAY three thousand individuals would decide to follow "The Way" (what followers of Jesus were called before they were known as Christians). To follow The Way meant you would certainly be ostracized, you would have been cutting yourself off from the culture you had known your entire life and even risked death. Persecutions were rampant, Christians were killed for following Jesus, and if not killed certainly imprisoned or scorned. Thousands of individuals would never willingly choose that lifestyle if they had not been one hundred percent certain of Jesus' resurrection and Kingship.

So, again, riddle me this... If Jesus was dead, why would so many choose to follow Him immediately after His resurrection?

-kAt

Best Beatboxer You Have Seen!

World's Best Beatboxer

That is one of my friends beatboxing! Check out his video, vote it five stars because it is obviously incredible, favourite it and then continue to share it! If he wins he can get $250,000 dollars and that is incredible! He is a gifted beatboxer to say the least!

Share the love everyone!

-kAt

Closing Ceremonies To The Games

And Andrew Allen performing 'Amazing'
Hint, CLICK THAT^


Not too often do you get to see two friends on nationwide T.V!

Last night I had the privilege of seeing both Andrew Allen (perform his song 'Amazing' and it certainly was that!) and Nick Brush (who had the chance to Ski as a guide in the Paralympic games!) on nationwide television. Pretty cool! Ps. Nick is the guy in the front of the picture waving a flag and you can click on the "Andrew Allen performing 'Amazing'" to see Andrew's performance!

Blessings,

-kAt

LYC!

My musical family for the past year... Top row is Erin, Kevin, Mike... Front row is Evan, Scott and me!

Me and Kev sticking our feet up in the air!

The band playing!

First off, I basically copied this perfectly from my Program Ambassador blog, but I wanted to share with everyone my LYC experiences... So here it is!

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Every year our school puts on a weekend youth conference called Legacy Youth Conference for hundreds of youth from all across Canada. This conference is run from a core group of 15-20 student leaders that are on a team called CPT (Central Planning Team). Each member on CPT has their own specialty area from business, entertainment, atmosphere, registration and many others. I was very fortunate and blessed to be on this team this past year working with Erin Tjart and D'arcy Watsham in the areas of rallies and worship leading. The three of us have been planning the rallies and the worship for this conference for hours every week since last April. Two weeks ago today this conference took place and before we knew it the conference was all over! It is hard for me to believe that it has already come to a close! After countless hours of work, planning, dreaming and envisioning what this conference could be the reality that it is over is an interesting pill to swallow!


The actual weekend was a truly amazing experience. I had many opportunities over the weekend to just sit back and watch the hundreds of kids from all over Canada (and the USA) enjoy the conference. It was amazing to see so many hours of planning come to full fruition and see God do His work in the lives of those that were at Ambrose that weekend. A lot of truly cool things took place where God spoke into the hearts of the youth, youth leaders, youth pastors, Ambrose students and everyone else that was at the conference. I was so blessed to not only be one member of the team that helped shape and form the rallies but to be a leader on the worship team. The rallies were powerful times where God spoke through our speaker, Ryan Graham, and did a lot of soul work on the people there. I was able to see the hours and hours of frustration, joys, laughter and tears come together just the way God planned it... The conference that God wanted took place just the way He wanted it and I am so humbled that I had the chance to be involved!


Some of my favourite moments of the weekend were:

- Leading worship

- Seeing the creative ideas for the rallies come together and God use them for changing the lives of the people that partook of them

- The band's involvement with the youth from Catalyst youth group (Jon Morrison's youth group) and when I was given one of the cork's from their celebratory sparkling apple juice

- Being able to connect and play guitar with various students over the weekend

- Talking with youth leaders and youth pastors from all around Canada and being able to share the chord charts with the music we played so that they could take it home with them to their churches.

- Seeing all of CPT do just what they were most passionate about and do a great job of executing their areas to a high level!

- Being able to feel the support of the prayer team and other teams that greatly encouraged myself and those I was working with

- I loved being able to teach two seminar's on the heart of worship with Scott Cyr!

- Entertainment night was amazing, the "Lols" were flowing!

- The Riot on Friday night was an amazing opportunity to meet with many students and be ridiculous playing the various games. My favourite was the tiger tug of war type game!

- The extended worship on Sunday night was so freeing because I realized that the conference had come to full fruition and seeing everyone just worship unhindered and completely free praising Jesus. It was powerful. And very beautiful.


LYC was a truly amazing experience, thanks to everyone that was involved! Now it is time for me to continue in my efforts of catching up on sleep and the homework that was put on the backburner for the last month!



Blessings friends!

-kAt

What is better than one blog? TWO BLOGS!

Hey friends,

As program ambassador at Ambrose one of the responsibilities I have is to blog about my time and experience at Ambrose as a student. I have another blog that I will likely write an entry in a couple of times a month and if you feel so inclined you can check that one out too!

I know I already had a post about my second blog, but the location has changed, thus calling for this new blog entry here.

CLICK ON ME!

That's it! Hope you're well,

-kAt