Another Boot Camp in the rear-view mirror

Well, we’ve run another boot camp and I’m again gobsmacked by God’s bigness.

My experiences surrounding these events is approaching a point where I feel compelled to be careful about what I say. There are things that cross the fuzzy and frankly scary border into mystical and while I trust the spiritual maturity of my friends who read this, I’m cautious of presenting too much weirdness to the casual passerby.

So please forgive me if I’m vague, but the events and the struggles surrounding Boot Camp Northwest seem to be steadily, well, escalating. And on both sides of the trench if you get my drift. The opposition is becoming more obvious, more determined, and dare I say more corporeal. But likewise our allies ratchet up...becoming more luminous. To whit, I suspect an honest-to-goodness angel may have been seen. Not by me, so I must point out this is hearsay, but the sources are beyond reproach in my mind, and multiple, so I’m confident they saw something – what they saw becomes a matter of deduction that leads me to the conclusion noted here.

But the Word said clearly - “Don’t celebrate that the demons obey you; celebrate that your names are written in the Book of Life.” The paraphrase reading “mystical-schmistical.” The truth is that our real and stated goal is clear – set men free. And holy-cow did that happen. This was, in my experience, the most tuned in and hungry audience we’ve had at BCNW, not the least of which was my own father. Of course only time will tell whether or not these seeds find good soil but I know that after the camp my dad was dramatically more talkative, and about really deep things, then he usually is. Even better, the day after he arrived home, he contacted his estranged sister who he hadn’t spoken to in over three years. That alone would be worth the price of admission.

For the record, God was very gentle to arrange circumstances to where there was no opportunity for me to ‘hover’ over my father during the camp – I had too much to do, and he was better off having ample time to himself. So that part went swimmingly. As for performing – I don’t think I acted differently than I would have when I had the mic. I did, however, make my dad cry (in a good way) when I told a story about him being a firefighter and all – so I got that going for me. :)

Also, God’s been really good about coving my home base while I’m gone. As the spiritual warfare ramps up for, by, and against me I tend to get increasingly concerned that it will somehow spill over onto my family, my home, or my business. Frankly, it’s a significant point of distraction and anxiety. But God has really shown himself faithful to cover those bases while I’m on mission. I have this tornado of a weekend and come home to find the biggest drama to be Odin’s mucus and as Gandalf says “That’s an encouraging thought.”

Also in the words of the Grey Pilgrim – I am a servant of the Secret Fire...
...and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.