The first time I met Winkie Pratney was at a youth camp in a town just north of Calgary, Canada back in the early ’90’s. I still remember what he spoke about at the camp. I didn’t take any notes, there was just a connection to what he was talking about that I still remember very clearly. What he was saying made alot of sense and he really helped bring understanding to things that I thought were important.
So when Shari and I got married it was pretty amazing to find out that her family had been very close to Winkie & his wife Faye and their son William since the 1970’s. It seemed like such a small world. Winkie was the very insightful revivalist/theologian Buddy (Shari’s Father) would bring in for extended ministry times with the Youth Quake Ministry he was pastoring. So it was an honor after Winkie began to recover from the near fatal episode with his brain in Korea that we were able to host him at Pipeline. Over the past few years he has ministered once a year, but this year we were able to have him over two weekends & he graciously did a special seminar with our leaders.
Winkie is a movie fan and that friday night he offered to take me to see the movie Elysium. It is the summer blockbuster starring Matt Damon. Damon’s character has had a dream since he was a boy of taking his childhood sweetheart to Elysium. Elysium is like a heavily-gated community orbiting the earth. In the aftermath of some apocalyptic scenario created by an overpopulated earth. Many of the “elite” have fled to the safety of Elysium with its promise of security, affluence & staggering “fountain of youth” like health benefits. While the less privileged are left to navigate the dangers on the earth below & dream of one day visiting Elysium. But the desperate don’t just dream. Those with family members who are ill and in need of the healing centers that are the privilege of the citizen of Elysium resort to extreme underground measures to penetrate the heavily guarded security of Elysium, most often with tragic consequence.
So the young man (Matt Damon’s character) grows into a man with a checkered past, on parole & trying to make a fresh start in an unforgiving society. His dreams of visiting Elysium seem to be gone until he becomes contaminated with radiation & is given 5 days to live. Suddenly in his desperation his dream is rekindled & his focus is sharpened with a fierce abandon. It was quite the movie & really got me thinking.
The next day was our leaders seminar with Winkie and he took the three hours to share about; Fractal Prophets, Quantum Guidance & Chaos Ministries, the type of ministry Winkie predicts will thrive in the 21st century. (The audio version of his teaching is available on the media tab of our site). One of the images Winkie showed us was a computer program of a fractal structure that seemed to continue forever and ever into his computer. Think about the never ending sequence of mirrors that you get when you position two mirrors to reflect into each other. So the fractal structure is like a tree of light with an infinite number of branches that come from it. The branches although unique each have a similarity. They look like curls, you see these patterns everywhere in nature. They are often referred to as the Fibonacci Sequence (Or the Golden Ratio). You can google it. When you recognize it you begin to see it everywhere.
The Fractal structure got me thinking about John 15 & John 1. In John 15 Jesus talks about the importance of abiding. Jesus is the vine & we are the branches. He advises that we must remain in Him if we are to do anything of any lasting eternal significance. In John 1 we are told that in him is life and that life is the light of the world. In verse 12 of John 1, we read that “as many as received him he gave the authority to become the sons of God.” That word translated authority is exousia in greek and can also mean “power” or “right.” It is an incredible promise waiting for anyone to receive & one that has all the benefits of “Elysium”, but for real. Jesus resurrection from the dead is not a fairy tale. And if you will take the time to honestly weigh the evidence surrounding his crucifixion, death & resurrection, my bet is you’ll find alot of answers you may not even be aware you are searching for. Check out Josh McDowell’s book “Evidence that demands a Verdict”.
So reflecting on all I had been exposed to over the weekend I began to ask a bunch of questions. Are we, the church, sitting on this powerful reality, in an hour when many “stagger towards slaughter”? We are called to share this promise of life in Jesus with the world. I wondered are we more like the gated community keeping people out? or are we more like the one’s with a dream in our hearts, but stuck in the mundane routines of existence on a world headed towards oblivion? Or have we finally come to our senses like the “contaminated” Matt Damon, understanding that there is only One Hope & One Savior. In either case we need to shake off the fear & apathy that holds us back & resolve whatever the cost to proclaim the forgiveness of sin & freedom from sin that can only be found in Jesus. There are many in despair who need to hear this good news.
All in all my weekend with Winkie stirred something in me quite deeply. Thanks Winkie for taking me to Elysium & for the ice cream.