My New Favorite Place on Earth

I got some pictures developed from my recent trip to Montana. As you know, I drove through Logan's Pass, which is in Northern Montana and the breathtaking Glacier National Park. WOW!!! Now I have yet another place to add to my most amazing places ever been to list. Here's a couple of pictures for you.

My Egg Exploded!!!

Today has started off in a rather unusual way. First of all I ate explosive eggs. It's not that I have eaten them and they have caused explosive reactions in the far reaches of my innards, but the fact that while I was cooking them they freaking exploded in the pan, showering me with hot egg goo. I have never, ever in all my egg cooking carrier had this happen to me.

I think I burnt my face too.

Anyway, I ate them to rid this world of the evils of exploding eggs. Come on!!! Whoever heard of such a thing?

I'm about to hop into the car and finally realize a vision I've had for years. It's a vision of a world map with pins in it. Pins to all the places I have travelled. I've been wanting to do this for a long time, but never really got around to it. While Andy and I were in Wal-Mart in Lethbridge we found the perfect maps so bought them. This afternoon Aaron and I will go out to a local art store to have the thing mounted and then I'll buy a bunch of pins and go crazy. I knew I really needed to get on this when random people started having the vision for me as well. Seriously! People were seeing me with a map with pins in it. Might as well obey rather then continue to question...

While I was driving home from Montana I had a great idea too. I'm going to get a different color of pin and they will represent my friends that I have scattered all over the world. It will be a great way to keep track of them and be able to pray for them all. And it will look plain cool.

Well... I'm going to go brush my teeth now. Mmmmm.... I just remembered... I can finally get my Americano! It has been a long time, sweet, sweet Americano. Our reunion this afternoon will be glorious!

Where Am I?

Wow!

I finally arrived home for a brief rest this morning. Off again on Sunday...

Red Deer yesterday was awesome as always. I absolutely love everyone there. We ended up having a hot dog roast, which turned into a "see how far you can fling yourself off the swings" competition and then somehow morphed into getting coffee and me finally buying a version of an electric razor. I am going to test that baby out tonight. Don't worry... I'll post before and after pics for everyone.

So today I had coffee with my wonderful friend Ryan, hopped in the Mumby Mobile and drove home. I then dedicated the majority of my day to getting re-aquainted with the couch and I read a good chunk of a book that Andy gave me, which so far is REALLY very good. Super thought provocing and they haven't even gotten to the main part of the story yet. The book is called "Safely Home" by Randy Alcorn. It's about the persecuted church in China and that's all I'll tell you about it. Believe me... it's worth your time. I just read the dedication a few days ago and had to put the book down. Here... let me write a bit of it out for you:

"To Graham Staines, who left his home in Australia to serve lepers in India for thirty-four years. To Philip Staines (age 10) and Timothy Staines (age 6) who at half past midnight on January 23, 1999, as their father held his arms around them, were burned to death by a mob in India; murdered because of Whom they knew and served. To Gladys Staines, who continues to minister to lepers and who said to all India, 'I am not bitter or angry. I have one great desire: that each citizen of this country should establish a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, who gave His life for their sins.' To Esther Staines, Graham and Glady's daughter (then age 13), who said, 'I praise the Lord that He found my father worthy to die for Him.' To the Hundreds of Men, Women and Children killed for Christ each day, ignored by the world but watched by the eyes of heaven -- those of whome the world is not worthy."

And I will also include a little quote from the book. It is rather profound, if you ask me:

"Those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it."

Now back to Red Deer

Hello All!

I have no time, in fact I should be driving right now. Just thought I'd put in a new post. My time in Taber is coming to a close. With a bang. Devon, Kristi and I just did Tim Tam Slams and it was a sight to behold. What with my choking and sending an impressive spray of tea and tim-tam across the room, which caused Devon to laugh so hard he farted which then caused Kristi to laugh so hard she started peeing her pants and she had to run to the bathroom. All in all a good show.

As most of you know, I'm in Red Deer tonight. I am really looking forward to hanging out with my friends there. Rumor has it that Secret Agent Chelsea will be there, which will be good. Haven't seen her in a while and the 10 minutes in June wasn't enough for a good hang out time. I still don't know why she is here when her home is Victoria, but I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Okay... gotta go or I'll be even later then I am already.

Cheers!

What to Write?

Tonight was cool. I taught at the little prayer group which Devon and Kristi have started here in Taber. It was quite fun. I taught on some of the fundamentals of intercession. I have not yet taught this full teaching anywhere, so they got the first download. It was quite funny. There were many blown minds and halfway through they were saying how the needed a break to fit in all the revelation. FUN!! So now I have to type out the notes for them to pass around so they can munch on the stuff and figure out how to apply it to their lives.

I love doing this stuff. Especially with the Lord! I love latching people onto the bigger and greater things that God has for them. I love to spur people on that there is more and it is available for THEM!! I love to turn people to look straight in the face of God and realize that everything is theirs for the taking too and if we all just look at Jesus and begin to run then we're in for a good time to say the least. I believe this will happen in Taber. People are hungry here and they're wanting to go for it.

What's stopping them?

I have one more day of hanging out here and on Wednesday will begin to trek home. I hope to stop in Red Deer to see my wonderful family friends, Bryan, David and the crew. I love them so much. Everyone needs to meet the Torwalts. In fact, everyone needs a Torwalt or two in their lives, I think. I'm happy because I have them all. I CLAIM MONOPOLY ON THE TORWALTS!! haha!!

Anyways......

Today, Nathan came home from school in Lethbridge and brought someone with him. I thought it was a friend who he wanted to introduce to us all so I cracked a joke when the guy walked in. I said, "Hey, you picked up a hitch-hiker!" and well... it turns out this guy actually was a hitch-hiker. Oops... He was a pretty cool guy. Only 18 and was hitching to Toronto to visit his girlfriend. It was his 9th time hitching over there. He had saved up enough money for a bus ride home, so this was the best way to get there. So Nathan brought him over for dinner, which was a mystery dinner where Devon just chucked a bunch of stuff in a pot and we called it soup. It was good.

Hitch-Hiker kid liked it and we had a good talk. He was amazingly "normal" although has chosen to be homeless. So that kind of throws a wrentch into the normal gears. But really... he was polite, we had normal conversation and seemed like a guy I would like to hang out with. So we wished him luck on his trip and hope to see him again when he passes through! Wouldn't that be a kicker.

I think I am going to crawl into my sleeping bag on the world's most comfortable air mattress and read the book Andy gave me for a while now. That seems like a nice way to end the day.

Cheers to all! I love you, even if I haven't met you!!

Hello Møntånå!!

Let me tell you something! Norwegian keyboards are fun! Look at all these extra keys! Like... what the heck is this??

æ

And it is freaking... I mean fræking impøssible to find half the keys I normally type with because they hide them in sneaky plåces. Of course this keyboard has the nørmal letters. I just find it rather exciting to use them. I ask forgiveness for all the Norwegian følk thåt I may nøw bæ offending.

So Andy is an official alien. I'm rather jæløus because I used to be one and now all I am is just a Canadian who lives in his øwn country. Hahaha... I love being Canadian. Sometimes I just don't like being there.

The last days have been incredible. Which reminds me that Jesus is coming back really soon according to some sign we saw upon entering Montana. We have spent some glorious time at ENR, had a wonderful time with Devon, Kristi and Nathan in Taber. I slept on the world's tallest air mattress and then today we drove through Logan's Pass and I almost fell asleep 15 times and dumped us off remarkably high cliffs with no safety rail at all. We stopped by a cøøl pool of wåter to rest for a while. Truth be told I am getting pretty tired hopping from city to city. It is incredible fun, but I'm only half way done. Tomorrow I drive back to Taber for a couple days, then drive home to pick up mom and then turn right around to go to ENR for a week and then straight off to Fåirmønt for a weekend of grandma's birthday. FUN!!! I love it.

Let me tell you... yøu åll need to drive through Logan's Pass at least five times in your life. It is astounding.

Oh yeah, today at some resturant that Andy and I went to, we found our waitress somehow knew Bill Johnson. That was weird. We chatted for a bit and I heard that she was a single møm with three kids and was working two full time jobs, so Andy and I did the proper thing and left her a massive tip. We had to run out of the place before she found out... which made it fun. It's nice to be able to do random (or nøt so råndøm) blessings and missions from God. It is, after all whåt keeps life fun.

I don't really know what else to write. My hært is full, but I am sad to be leaving this place and leaving Andy. This time has been an incredible gift to spend with him and I am very,very thankful that he will be with us for Christmas. I think we are going to have to håve a giant open New Years bash so we can all be together again just because that is goød.

Okay. Here are some final Norwegian words for you all from Andy, before he drfits off to sleep and starts this new season of life at his YWAM SBS, here in beautiful Lakeside, Montana.

Jeg tror jeg er klar. Gud er fortsatt god, og jeg ser frem til tiden som ligger foran.
Vis meg mer av deg, Herre!

Is That Cow Poo on my Face?

If you were with us last night you quite possibly would have been asking that very question. When we all get together we have this thing to go up onto the pasture land and so strange things. Last night was so different... well... maybe more different in the fact that we invented a new game and most of us came very close to falling right in the middle of astonishingly large cow pies.

Earlier in the day someone had given us a tennis ball. Yes, I know you are thinking that our lives are wild and exciting, but a tennis ball someone did give us. I jammed it in Amanda's pocket and there it was forgotten until about 11:00 at night. We brought that out and decided it would be fun to play catch with said tennis ball in the near pitch blackness. Needless to say there were many times when I was good and ready to make a blistering catch unlike any has seen while the ball sailed right past my head and I had no idea.

So we played that for an embarrassingly long time and decided it would be more fun to spin. So a few of us went wild. I plowed to the ground far too close to a fresh pile of turd. Kay didn't. But Andy decided he would help her and used his newfound CFL Football skills that he learned at the game the other night and took Kay down at the knees and directly onto one of those lovely piles of cow crap.

It's a form of showing affection out here at ENR.

Today is the beginning of the next DTS for YWAM out here. So fun. About 24 new kids are showing up today and it has been fun to watch them roll in. Some burst into tears, others are sooooo excited and some seem to just fit right in. It's neat. Right now everyone is pretty jittery, but that will wear off in a few days once they all get used to the idea that they are stuck together for the next six months and there's nothing they can do about it.

And here are the plans in case you were wondering. Within the next two years I will move to Scotland. Firstly because I want to live somewhere else and secondly because Kay is getting married and I want to be there. Then I'll go on at least one Bible smuggling trip. Sound like fun? I think so. I'm too safe these days. All I do is prophecy over people in beer gardens and random strangers. I need more excitement then that. hahaha... but seriously... I really want to smuggle Bibles. Andy has been telling me stories and it is really getting me going again. He told me about his sister who got some into a closed country and when they found the pastor they asked how long these Bibles would last for, expecting something like maybe a few weeks to a month. The pastors answer? They should be gone by the morning.

Crazy.

And I have 6 Bibles of my own. Time to spread the wealth.

Oh yes... and I have become a film maker professional. Today Kay and I filmed "Attack of the Murderous YWAM Banana." It is a blockbuster. You'll have to watch for the theatrical release. It will be huge. Here is a sneak peak of what you will find:

Andy bites the head of the banana and it dies. Especially after Kay squishes it's inards out all over the place. Epic I tell you. Epic.

Andy and I are here for a couple more days and then we're off to Taber. After a day in Taber we head to Montana where I drop him off at his SBS and I may or may not drive home. We'll see... And by the way, Kay says hi.

Now at ENR!!

We're now at Eagle's Nest Ranch! Woo!! I would write a whole ton of stuff here but currently am about to head up Prayer Mountain with Amanda, Kay and Andy. It is awesome for us all to be together again. I like it when that happens.

So this is going to be painfully short. I'll update more later when I am not so busy. The DTS students arrive tomorrow, so the staff will probably be busy with them and I'll be able to update good and nice.

I'm heading up Prayer Mountain now. Kristy-anne I'll pray for you, that the Lord would lead you to forgiveness, even though Andy and I won fair and square. Would you like a consolation prize? Here... a Norwegian word just for you:

"Vakker"

There. That's all yours. And anyone else who is feeling somewhat jadded.

We're being summoned....

Psychotic Bowling Fiesta

What do you do when it is raining, you're in Red Deer and there is nothing to do? You bowl. You bowl like you've never bowled before. Tonight was a night of bowling that will never, ever be matched again. I'm trying to figure out how to properly describe the events, but suffice it to say that my whole body hurts, we fell many times, often into the gutters and I have lost my voice.

Can anything be better?

And Andy blew us all away because he had never ever played and was curving the balls with amazing control all over the alley. We could not believe his amazingness and we all think he should join league play.

The rest of us want to join league play too, but we need helmets and knee pads. And the occasional face-mask.

I'm beyond tired, so I think I'm going to pack it in now. Bed is a nice place to be. Whever it is, I like it. Tonight it's Red Deer...

I'm glad heaven is my home.

And the Winner is...!

Well...

Today is probably the last day that we will be playing "What's that Crazy Norwegian Word" because Andy and I are getting ready for our little road trip. Which reminds me... I have a lot of people to call.

But do not be worried, we will still be able to update you on our world adventures. Don't you fret, little ones. Stay tuned because things are about to get crazy.

Of course we have to announce a winner. Are you ready? We tabulated all the points and guess who won? Coming in with 15 Billion points, Andy and Kayle take the lead. We are the world champions. Thank you. Thank you. You'll be proud to know that the winners of this game recieve REALLY AWESOME seats to the Calgary vs. Edmonton football game tonight, so Andy and I will be enjoying those. We'd like to thank our mothers and our hair designer for giving us the tickets to join the rest of the RAW crew in one of the best football games this season.

Everyone else looses.

Sorry. Better luck next time. For those of you out of town, tune into the TV to watch and look at row 35, seats 17 and 18 and you'll find your favorite Kayle and Andy sitting there freezing our butts off and screaming loudly along with the sell-out crowd.

Oh yeah... the word translates to the handle of a Norwegian Cheese cutter. So some of you got frighteningly close.

We're going to play football now.

Mwa-ha-ha-ha.....

Full Contact Word Game?

I fear from the comments that this soon may turn into another gong-show from my last diary. Does anyone remember the guestbook that turned into a personal slamming, getting viciously angry and actually loosing friendships saga? Yeah... that was funny.

But we must push forward to round three. And we must confess to you that we lead you astray with our last sentence. Although the comments were quite hilarious. Here is the meaning to our last Norwegian Sentence:

"Also to be able to get back down afterwards."

It has nothing to do with Norwegian Mythology. Sorry. But I bet in your searching you did learn a little bit about Norway! Hahahaha... that was our plan all along. Now you are internationally smart.

We got that sentence off a Norwegian newspaper site. Randomly chosen and sadly it doesn't make much sense. But that's the fun of it all.

So here are the points so far:

1. Aaron get's out of the amazing hole he dug for himself, because when we did a surprise inspection to see if he was playing by the rules yesterday, we actually found him spending his working day researching Norwegian Proverbs!! So Aaron get's awarded the full 50,000,000 points, bringing him to a total of 45,000,000 points and racing ahead of the field!!

2. There is a two way tie between Chelsea and Trisha since they are both red heads. Time will tell who wins this one, although Trisha has rocketed up from her 2 points to an astounding 27,650,002 to tie with Chelsea

3. Bryan is now in the top three with his amazing translation, which I personally thought was the closest. Bryan... Andy has been rampaging down Whyte Ave shouting Norsk curses at anyone who makes eye contact with him! HELP!! And you get 25,000,000 points just because.

4. Kristy-anne is now in 4th, which really is amazing because she missed the entire first round. But she get's 23,576,988 points because... um... because... she takes better pictures then me.

5. We're just going to put Erin in fifth with her 2 stinky fish.

6. Bobbie plummets to 6th for she did not show up in round two! She remains with 87,000 points.

7. Stephanie comes in 7th with 86,000 points because she tried to confuse the judges with random languages.

8. Kirktis.... LAST.... with 50,000 points because he questioned the validaty of Cheslea's information on Cleopatra and could be starting a war of words on my comments section.

Okay.... now that we have all that done here is round three. Now the Crazy Norwegian Word for you to translate:

"Ostehøvelskaft"

The points you can earn come to a grand total of 6,543,000 and if you're really good a coffe with Kayle and Andy. We'll even autograph something for you.

Amen.

Round Two

Okay...

Some of you cheated. I don't know how, but since you got really close to what the word actually is I have decided that you have cheated. Well... maybe not. You just did good.

Here are the standings after round one:

1. Bobbie - She got it right. Social Security Office!! She get's the full 87,000 points!!!!!!!
2. Chelsea - 86,999 because she is a hot red-head
3. Kirktis - 35,000 because he was close and we don't exactly know who he is
4. Bryan - 20,000 because his comment was funny and he said fart
5. Erin - She is awarded fish cooked badly in a bucket
6. Trisha - 2 points. Just two. You doubt the Norwegian language??
7. Aaron - NEGATIVE FIVE MILLION POINTS because his comment made me puke a little bit and made Andy cry.

So there you go. The race is on. The Norwegian word for today is a good one. So good that it's actually a Norwegian sentence. You can get 50,000,000 points on this one. It's hard.

"Og å klare å komme ned igjen etterpå."

Join the race. Here is a hint. This sentence is part of the massive Norwegian identity. It goes back centuries into the ancient mythology that built their proud nation into what it is today. Maybe.

TRANSLATE!!!!

HE'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay okay okay.... maybe it was because of the 900 litres of coffee I drank last night. Maybe it was because my adrenalin was pumping so hard. Maybe it was because Andy's plane was an hour late. Maybe it was because I ate a huge bowl of beans for lunch and a good sized meat lovers pizza for dinner.

Whatever it was, I couldn't sleep.

Not only that, but I was thrashing about in my sleep and almost kicked a hole in the wall. I can't really tell you what went through my head, but around 3:00am my legs went all spastic and I absolutely nailed my wall with my leg so hard that all my pictures rattled around. And I hurt my foot.

Needless to say I am rather tired right now and I bet you are all wishing that you could be with me because when sleepy Kayle comes around entertainment is to be had.

And I don't want to be wasting any more time writing on here because ANDY IS HERE FROM NORWAY!!!!! Today we get to drive to the lake because mom forgot her purse out there. Then figure out how to make Norwegian Kroners into Canadian Dollars. And then I have to beg and plead with my hair designer to sqeeze me into her schedual somewhere so my hair can be cut before my next big trip. Fun fun.

Andy and I have decided that we are going to play a new game. It's called "What's That Freaking Norwegian Word?!" Here's how it goes. We give you the word and then you post a comment on what it actually means in english. Whoever gets closest we will give amazing amounts of points to... but we have to figure out what the points earn you. We'll think of something.

Here is your first word:

"Folketrygkontoret"

Now break that down and post a comment. The winner will get 87,000 points. The looser... just below that. NOW TRANSLATE!

New Levels

Yes. New levels. Of insanity. This weekend's tour to the cabin was something near a torture test. Although I do have a theory about this. I suffer from this thing I have named "Lifestyle Whiplash".

What is said Lifestyle Whiplash, or LW for short? It is this: travel for two weeks at a time across the nations, meeting with people, seeing amazing things, having wild times with God, constantly changing scenes and all that and then shifting instantly to the cabin. No phone, no TV, no stereo, no running water, no people, no buildings, no stores, no nothing. Quite a shift. In this case I had been going crazy busy for the past month and a half. Then kick it into cabin mode and your psychological world undergoes significant stresses as you jam the gears into the forced slot.

But never fear, I'm about to do it again! I pick up Andy tonight at the airport (insert insane happy sounds and actions here). We hang out for the week and then off we go. Probably to Red Deer for the weekend to see Bryan and the family. Then monday we hike over to ENR for a few more days. Then to Taber for a couple more. Then to Montana to drop Andy off and I'll probably stay there a day or two. Then back to Taber for two days. Then back to ENR to do a week of teaching at the YWAM base. Then immediately over to Fairmont for the big 80th birthday bash of my grandmother. Then I get to head back to home after that. Now... let's guess when that will be? Guesses? Guesses?

October 3rd.

WHAT THE HECK?? OCTOBER FREAKING 3RD?? That means I'll be home for a grand total of something like 8 days. Hmmm...

Am I complaining? No. This means that I will be able to study this new phenominon more closely. Lifestyle Whiplash. I'll be writing a paper soon. More study is needed.

Anyway, I'm off to Boston Pizza with Aaron and Bobbie because we don't really want to put any effort into making dinner. Of this, I am glad, because my options were Kraft Dinner and... Kraft Dinner. Although it is monday and that has been the traditional Kraft Dinner day for two years while Jodi and I conducted "Study American Culture via Watching the Cops TV Show For Hours at a Time" day. Those were the good days.

Maybe I'll tell you about those days. They ended with a bang. Jodi, if you are reading this - cheers to you!

Laking... again!

Once again... we're off to the lake. So... you'll have some good stories to read here in a few days. And the best story of all... Andy will be here!

Can you tell that I am excited?

Katrina Katrina

Wow...

I am glued to the TV right now, especially concerning all things Katrina. I can't believe what is happening. More then that I can't believe the attitudes and ridiculous "mud-slinging" that is going on by everyone.

For example:

1. The response has been too slow. Granted, there are some things that they could have done better, but I keep thinking that the entire coastline in Mississippi, Louisianna and a good portion of Alabama has been literally destroyed. Not just New Orleans. Jacksonville, who we are not hearing from much at all, is in the same place as New Orleans. They're out of everything too, but we're not hearing from them. Maybe because they can behave themselves a little better under great stress. I'm wondering if people really are taking into account that it takes a great deal of time to make things work again. A serious concern is that the power has not yet been turned back on. This makes me scratch my head because where are you going to turn power on to? Also you need to repair all the power lines, but where are you going to get new poles? They all got blasted away too. And where are you going to get the workers? They are all shipped over to Texas as refugees. Sure there is the army, but they have a fairly massive job getting people out without being shot at by psychotic and less then brilliant citizens.

2. The reason the disaster is so crazy is because the majority of the people are black and the white power administration just doesn't care that much about them. This one is massively stupid. It sounds like a valid reason until one realizes that the MAYOR, the majority of the administration of the city, the majority of the fire and police service are all black themselves. THEY are the ones who ultimately have responsibility over the city and they are black just as the rest of the people, so this is not a race issue unless the administrations hate's their own race. I think not. This is just one massive disaster upon disaster. A huge hurricane, THREE levies breaking and a city that has been unprepared for decades. Everyone lost everything. The black people, whether they are rich or not and the white people whether they are rich or not. People are failing to realize that they are ALIVE and are not in the middle of Sudan where the international community has turned a blind eye and is literally letting HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of people die in a genocide that is going on right now, this minute.

3. I'm amazed to see how people think that just a snap of a finger can get 40,000 troops mobilized and in a city instantly. These people all had to get pulled out of jobs, their homes, briefed for their mission, given supplies, on a plane, shipped to somewhere along miles and miles of destoryed coastline, given more orders, get their vehicles that have also been shipped and then go into a destroyed city to find the people who are needing rescue. This doesn't happen overnight. Shocking, I know. Once again, thank God someone is helping while those in the Congo join the ranks of the previous 2 Million who have already died of war and starvation while the international community turned their back. No help comes for them.

4. The food and water is slow in coming. Once again... at least it is coming. At least their government is giving a first installment of $10.5 BILLION to help them out. Thank God they are getting food, water and shelter while the government enforced famine continues in North Korea - the same famine that can be reversed but the government refuses and is willingly letting thousands of it's citizens die of starvation every year.

You know what? God Bless America. Those people got it good.

Spiritual Warfare?

In the past months I have come to think a great deal about our thinking concerning spiritual warfare. You know, going to battle for the Lord and that whole deal. I am coming more and more to the conclusion that our warfare view is simply wrong for the most part. Lots of people like to be a "soldier for Christ" and fight amazing spiritual battles but there is much that does not line up in my mind concerning all of this. Especially the whole bit about Jesus dying once and for all mankind and how He got ALL authority given to Him and how now the enemy is a defeated foe.

Are many of us fighting for a victory that has already been won?

Of course there will be "battles". There will be hardship and there will be opposition. The question that continually goes through my mind is how we fight.

I have come to firmly believe that the highest form of spiritual warfare is rest. As we rest we use the tools of praise and worship. We use the discipline of getting our eyes off of ourselves, our situations and our feelings and we turn them to God. When He comes on the scene, what bit of the kingdom of darkness can stand?

I have much to process and think through on this still. I have been reading through the Bible a lot to discover what true warriors of God look like. Generally they look a lot different then the picture that most people would think a warrior to be these days. We think of a huge sword, insane bravery, fighting with our huge spiritual muscles. David thought of a few rocks and a slingshot against a very one-sided battle. Mighty warrior.

Jericho. Funny one. Huge spiritual battle and a victory was won. How? By a bunch of people walking around and shouting a lot.

Gideon was flat out insane by our standards.

The army of Isreal either hated music or knew something a little bit deeper then we do when it came to their battles as they sent the worshippers out first.

And what do we see when we look at that? Warriors or worshippers being the key to victory? Strength or reliance on God? How good and loud and violent we pray or how close we can get into the presence of God?

Much can be written about this and probably will be. But right now I am going to copy a bit out of one of my journals which I found to be very interesting. As I read through my Bible I am writing down scriptures that strike me as warfare scriptures which we can learn from. I read all the ones that I have copied down so far two nights ago and this is what it looks like:

------------------------
My eyes are on the Lord, for only He will release my feet from the storm. You have not handed me over to the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place. The Lord preserves the faithful. From the lips of children and infants You have ordained praise because of your enemies to silence the foe and avenger. My shield is God most high, who saves the upright in heart. His pleasure is not in the strength of horses nor His delight in the legs of a man; the Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love. Those who look to the Lord are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. The righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers them from them all; He protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. The Lord redeems His servants; no one will be condemned who takes refuge in Him. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations. No King is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His Holy name. May Your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in You. Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me.
-----------------------

Pretty neat, huh? If you want scripture references, just go read all the Psalms. They're all in there somewhere. You'll probably find some good stuff in there all on your own too!