Family Rocks

Being home for Christmas rocks my world. It is so good to be around people that accept you for who you are, and who know you enough to have all the background. We've gone to movies, played games, talked, laughed, ate. It's good to be home. This is the kind of environment that I thrive for, to just be me and interact with others in a safe environment.

I'm heading back to Three Hills tonight, and I'll be there all day tomorrow. Dedicating a baby in the morning service, and helping lead the Christmas Eve service, and then driving back up to Edmonton. It's my last Sunday at Bethel, and it will be a great time to wrap up the loose ends.

And then next week, when the rest of my family leaves for Vancouver, I'll be driving most of the way with them, and heading south to Peachland to visit Jordan! She surprised me by coming up to Canada for Christmas break, and I can't wait to spend some quality with her and hear some of the stories she has from the first few months in Mexico.

It's going to be a great Christmas break!

And let's not forget I have the cutest niece in the world!

Christmas

What a crazy time of year. Christmas in the money-spending sense is upon us, and has been for quite some time. People are shelling out more money than any other time of the year (unless it's thanksgiving and you're American) to bring 'the spirit of Christmas' to all those around them. It's at a moment like in which I stop myself, and do a little bit of navel gazing.

When I think of Christmas, I remember the times when I was little. We would drive to Grandma's and all of the cousins would gather in a central location. It'd be a week of festivities, driving behind the four-wheeler while we tried to hang onto the sled, or the games of decathlon on the Atari, while Brad schooled us all on the finer points of muscle spasms that lead to an incredible rate of wiggling that joystick. I'm reminded of the presents under the tree, and the I'm inevitably lead to the ever-building excitement that lead up to Christmas.

But nowadays, Christmas is more about getting together with family. It's the time to spend with people that you don't normally get to see, people that you trust and love. Christmas has moved away from the 'what do I get?' mentality, and into the family mentality. For me, I find that's the true centre of Christmas.

Jesus came to this earth, so that we could be a part of His family. He set aside everything, and joined one of our families. It's incredible to think about, and I believe I'm going to spend some good time just ... pondering the real depths of that over the next few days. God is SO good.

The End of a Season

It's official: I'm in my last week here at Bethel. I've spent more than a year at this church in ministry, 8 months of that in an internship, and 6 as the children's pastor. Just now am I beginning to feel like I'm fitting in. Funny how now is also the time that I'm being called elsewhere.

There has been many things that I've learned along the way, but the first is that you should never, ever burn bridges. I have had many people tell me in the past that it doesn't matter what happened, what was said -- never use those last days to burn what may be left... instead use them to reinforce them! While there's no danger of me wanting to burn bridges here, I can't support that statement enough. When you leave, always go for allies, rather than leaving enemies.

The second is that it is better to focus on a few things and do them well than to try to do everyone and do none of it well. I had many ideas of what I wanted to do over the past six months, but God always kept the priority in focus: the River. That children's church was one of the main reasons I was hired to stay on, and I was given the opportunity to see it cemented and moored in for the long-haul. As I was talking with one of my leaders yesterday, she said how encouraging it has been for her to see the maturity begin to grow in these kids. I couldn't agree more! We have kids that are authentically interacting with their faith, and the fruits are beginning to show.

The last thing I'll write about is that ministry is never easy. There are many unexpected challenges and attacks that come your way. Things you never would have expected are thrown at you almost daily. The important thing is that you remember who you're doing it for, and why you got into it in the first place. Changing lives is more important than your pride. It's more important than being right. It's more important than looking good. Changing lives is paramount, and there will be knocks along the way that will make you want to turn from the course... but hold steady, God will give you the tail winds to drive you through.

14 months, and it's been an excellent experience. Tough times, good times all sum up into a worthwhile experience that gives me a better perspective moving forward into my own independant ministry. Now I look forward to Fiji!

Disciplines

I'm in the process of reading through a book for one of my Distance Ed courses, The Spirit of the Disciplines. Dallas Willard's look at the importance of spiritual disciplines is enlightening and challenging, because the book does not demand an answer, it demands action.

The entire premise is that Jesus and Paul did not do what they did solely by the grace of God. Rather, it was their daily routines that made all the difference in the world to their spiritual lives. Jesus spent much of his time alone and in prayer, and Paul followed in the same footsteps. Willard asks then... is it any wonder why they had such effective ministries? Perhaps they are tied together!

I'm about halfway through the book, and I'm just getting my feet wet. If you're curious about the importance of fasting, praying, solitude, etc. I highly recommend picking up a copy of this book.

Asking Questions

Why is it that we have become so afraid of asking the hard questions? I read through the Bible, and it is filled with our spiritual forefathers digging deep into the meaning of God and asking the hard questions. It seems we have a Pharasitic view of people who stop to ask the hard questions, and encourage other people to do the exact same.

I would challenge this view, however, and instead say Jesus was the one who encouraged the Disciples to ask the hard questions of God to discover their faith and grow. Job himself stopped when God allowed everything to be taken away and cried out against God to ask Him the hardest question of all: why?

But there is a chasm between the attitude of the Pharisee's questioning Jesus to the Disciples. One is approaching God with a sense of arrogance, and one is approaching from the realization that we are nothing. Both ask, but their hearts are worlds apart.

We need to be encouraging our young people to ask the hard questions, because God is faithful in hearing our prayers and answering them. This is what will solidify their faith deep into their souls, and create a generation that will rise up and be strong advocates for God. But we also need to teach them the reverance of God that my age-group has so neglected... they are talking with a living... active God. He needs to be approached cautiously!

He is not a tame lion.

Winding Down

One of the best parts of ministry, at least in my opinion, is watching something you've started take a life of it's own (in the angel kind of way, not in the Frankenstein kind of way!) and carry on without you. People take up the vision, they pick up the purpose, and they consider it their own! And suddenly, something you had to put up onto it's feet is running without you! This must be what it is like to be a parent.

Ministry experiences are a great thing. The process in between can be extremely frustrating... but somehow the result is always worth the pain.

Welcome to Culture

The message I gave a few weeks ago focussed on many of the misconceptions our children are growing up with. They share the same role models as secular children and youth, and subsequently, they are thinking the exact same way. This becomes a huge issue when you think about the consequences... truth is no longer foundational, it is situational.

Here's a good example, as I was poking around MSNBC, this stunning quote came up:

Beyoncé Knowles says that one of the most important people in her life was her late uncle, who was gay. “I was raised by my uncle who passed away with AIDS a couple of years ago,” the “Dreamgirls” star said, according to WENN. “He was my mother’s best friend. He brought me to school every day. He helped me buy my prom dress. He made my clothes with my mother. He was like my nanny. He was my favorite person in the whole world.” Knowles says that her affection for her uncle didn’t conflict with her deep religious views: “I never mixed Christianity with how I felt (about him). I am about faith and spirituality more so than religion. Doing right by others and not judging.”

Now, don't get me wrong, there is definitely a point where we need to look at the person, and not the sin that they are living in. But does that make black and whiter? When you think about the consequences of that statement, it suddenly becomes clear why Christians look no different than the secular world. One of the most famous 'Christians' in the music business has given up the definite word of the Bible, to instead say, "It's ok. As long as they are a nice person, who am I to say what they are doing is wrong?" It's a scary world.

Intense Weekend

We got back last night from a pretty intense weekend. We took the kids out to camp for a retreat, and the focus was on worship. It was an awesome time, and it really built some awesome relationships, and got the kids thinking. But as with any youth event, sometimes things can get a little crazy!

This weekend, I got to play the bad cop. We had 4 or 5 very very high energy boys that came out with us (funny how it's always the boys ;)), and they had to be kept on a fairly short leash. That meant almost keeping an eye on them for the entire time they were awake. It can get pretty draining when you are constantly working with the same guys. I love them all to bits, but boy it's the first time I've seen a 5 second attention span, literally.

You'd tell them stop. They'd acknowledge you, look at you for 2 seconds, and their minds wandered. Incredible.

I'm going to be taking the next few days to just recover from all that! Thankfully, God is faithful!

Stay the Course

Here's one thing I've learned about ministry in the past few months: many people will try to pull you down. Doesn't matter what position they hold, doesn't matter where they've been in life, everyone comes in with their own taint on life. I'm sure I have sadly played that role in someone's life before. I wish it wasn't so, but reality tells me that in my stupidity, in my stubbornness, I was a jerk.

You push right through their criticism. Take the time to stop... and listen to the still, small voice, and you run like the wind to keep up with it. There will be barriers. There will be knives and spears that will cut you. There will be rivers that seem unpassable. Listen to that voice when life rages around you, and never stop to listen to what anyone else.

There is much wisdom in the statement... "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me." -- Think about that. You can do ALL THINGS. Not just the small things, not just the things other people think you can do. Not only what your Senior Pastor tells you is appropriate... ALL THINGS. Cling to those words, never let them wander far from your mind. Claim them as your own, and fly them high on the flagpole in defiance of this world... in defiance of Satan.

Arise to the challenge. I think you'll find that God is there.

Friends Rock

I just got back from an evening here in Edmonton with some of my old friends. It was good to be together, and have an opportunity to just be myself. I didn't have to worry about what I said, or how it would come across -- they give me the freedom to just be me.

You know that feeling when you put a warm blanket around you on a cold day? Feels like everything just melts away from you...? That's the same feeling I get when I'm around my friends. There is a ton of water underneath the bridge, we went through those awkward teenage years together, and now we're moving onto our working years. We understand one another, and can just get together to have fun.

These are the times I cherish. These are the times I really appreciate. If you have good friends, don't even take them for granted, revel in those times to their fullest, because there is no guarantee you'll have them forever!

The 90's

I just got this e-mail, though it would be appropriate!

Anybody under the age of 13 should not read this, and if you do, you should not repost this. Just because you were born in '97 doesn't mean you're a 90's kid. It's not like you could remember the original Simpsons. I am sorry but three conscious years of the 90's just wont cut it.

You're a 90's kid if:

You remember watching Doug, Ren & Stimpy, Pinky and the Brain and Two Stupid Dogs.

AAAAAAAH real monsters.

You've ever ended a sentence with the word "PSYCHE!

You just cant resist finishing this... "Iiiiiiin west Philadelphia born and raised..."

You remember TGIF on ABC. Step by Step, Family Matters, Dinosaurs, and Boy Meets World.

You remember when, 2Pac and Selena died.

You remember when it was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons.

You got super excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school.

You remember reading "Goosebumps"

You took plastic cartoon lunch boxes to school.

You remember the craze, then the banning of slap bracelets and slam books.

You still get the urge to say "NOT" after (almost) every sentence...Not...

You used to listen to the radio all day long just to record "Your FAVORITE song of ALL time"

Where in the world is Carmen San Diego? was both a game and a TV game show.

Captain Planet. He's a Hero.

You knew that Kimberly, the pink ranger, and Tommy, the green Ranger were meant to be together.

You remember when the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis became popular.

You always wanted to send in a tape to America's Funniest Home Videos... but never taped anything funny.

You remember watching home alone 1, 2 , and 3........and tried to pull the pranks on "intruders"

You remember watching The Magic School Bus, Wishbone, and Reading Rainbow on PBS.

You remember when Yomega Yo-Yos were cool.

You remember those Where's Waldo books...

You remember when Mortal Kombat Was "Da Bomb"!

You remember eating Warheads.(those sour candy's)

You remember watching the 1st Batman, Aladdin, Ninja Turtles, and 3 Ninjas movies.

You remember Ring Pops.

You remember drinkin' Fruitopia and Surge.

If you remember when every thing was "da BOMB"

when they made the new lunchables so that you could make tacos and pizza!!

You remember boom boxes vs. cd players

Writing M.A.S.H. notes. (and the twenty different versions of that)

Making those little paper fortune cookie things... and then predicting your
life with them.

You knew all the characters names and their life stories on "Saved By The Bell"

You played and/or collected "Pogs"

You had at least one Tamagotchi, GigaPet or Nano and brought it everywhere

....Furbies.

You haven't always had a computer, and it was cool to have the Internet.

And Windows 95 was the best.

You watched the original cartoons of Rugrats, Power Rangers,and Ninja Turtles.

Michael Jordan was a king.

Yikes pencils and erasers were the stuff!

All your school supplies were "Lisa Frank" brand.(pencils, notebooks, binders, etc.)

You remember when the new Beanie Babies and talking Elmo were
always sold out.

You collected those Beanie Babies.

Growing Pains.

Carebears and The Gummy Bear show.

Lambchop's song never ended.

The old dollar bills.

Silver dollars, were cool to have.

You collected all the Troll dolls

You remember a time before the WB.

You owned a portable tape player.

If you even know what an original Walkman is.

You remember wanting to sit on the orange Nickelodeon couch.

You've gotten creeped out by "Are You Afraid of the Dark?"

You know the Macarena by heart.

"Talk to the hand" ... enough said

You always said, "Then why don't you marry it!"

You know the significance of the number 23.

You went to McD's to play in the playplace.

You remember playing on merry go rounds...at the play ground.

When we were younger:
Before the MySpace frenzy...
Before the Internet & text messaging...
Before Sidekicks & iPods...
Before MIKE JONES...
Before PlayStation2 or X-BOX...
Before Sponge Bob
....Back when you put off the 5 hours of homework you had every night.
When light up sneakers were cool.
When you rented VHS tapes, not DVDs.
When gas was 39.9 a litre & Caller ID was a new thing.
When we recorded stuff on VCRs .
When we called the radio station to request songs to hear off our walkmans.
When 2Pac and Biggie where alive.
When the Chicago Bulls were the best team ever.
Way back.
When it was all about N64.
Before we realized all this would eventually disappear

Who would have thought you'd miss the 90's so much!!!!!

The Woes

Preaching can be one of the hardest things you will ever do. You are asked to pour your heart and soul into a message, put in countless hours of study and preparation, and put it out into the public forum in the course of 20 to 30 minutes. It can be one of those things that will either rip you to shreds, or help you build for the next time.

I posted a bit of detail this past week about the message that I was preparing. Truly, it is definitely what is on my heart. We are in danger of losing the next generation, my generation. There are people out there who are seeking nothing but their destruction, and the constant plummet into relativism, and the misunderstanding of the foundations of the Christian journey are leading down a dangerous road.

It was one of those messages that I poured myself into. I read, and I studied, and I spent a lot of time crafting my words so that they would come out properly. It was my heart, like telling someone about how much I love Jordan, or talking about my family. To throw this out would be a slap in my face.

God is good. He takes our words, no matter how frail they might be and makes them strong. He translates our inadequate language into one that reaches into people's hearts. If you are afraid to speak out, lean on Him. If you are scared to share your heart, draw from Him. If you don't know the words, let Him speak through you. God is faithful.

Three Tiers of Influence

In our modern day culture, we are competing for the minds of our youth and children. They are being bombarded every single day with stimuli from every direction. Media Moguls are clamouring for the minds and hearts of the next generation. The scary thing? They're winning.

The diagram above shows a basic breakdown of what influences our children's lives the most. The first, and most influential tier consists of contemporary culture, movies, media, and thankfully parents. These are the main contributors that will stick with a child throughout their developmental years and shape them.

Immediately, it becomes clear that we need to be carefully regulating what our children take into their minds. It will eventually come out, and it's up to us to determine if it's sludge, or pure, spring water.

The Secondary level consists of peers, school, radio and mentors. These are the external sources that will guide them, but ultimately only influence, not shape them. People who spend a majority of their time with them only have an effect! Parents, your job is crucial!

Perhaps the most sobering part of this pyramid however, is the place church takes in their lives. We as a community play third fiddle to all of the other sources. Considering they barely spend more than a few hours a week in church, it's not so surprising, but it makes it important to form long-lasting relationships with the children and youth, so that we can go beyond the walls of a building, and bring the church into their lives.

Time to Sermonate

I'm here in my office, and I've got a little over a page done for my sermon tomorrow. I decided it was time to resort to drastic measures. I went to IGA, picked up popcorn, mountain dew, and popcorn. Now I'm ready to dig in and write this thing!

Fight For The Next Generation

I am preaching on Sunday. I am scared to preach on Sunday. The topic I am covering is children and youth culture. Essentially, I am borrowing from such books as Battle Cry For a Generation and The Last Christian Generation to lay out the facts about those who are younger than me. Predictions are saying that if nothing is done, only 4% of this generation will hold core Christian values.

4 Percent. That's a staggering figure when you think that the current generation is somewhere around 35 percent. The average age for a child to first be exposed to pornography on the internet is 11. The largest consumers of internet pornography are between the ages of 12-17. Clearly, there is something wrong.

But preaching a message like this is never easy. You are asking... no, demanding action. This is not a message you merely walk away from and talk casually over dinner about, it is one that you either lay out the cards, or turn your back to completely ignore it. I'm hoping the congregation will choose the former. To get involved in financial, tangible, and spiritual ways to reclaim a generation that is being assaulted on all sides by Satan.

Take the stand.

Floor Hockey

I've been running floor hockey with grades four to six here at Bethel. It's been a lot of fun, but I have also found myself very tired by the end of it. However, as I ran the floor hockey yesterday, I discovered something very interesting, I was enjoying myself.

Interesting? You ask. How can enjoying yourself be interesting?

It reveals something new about me. I find new things quite exhausting. I believe that I need a bit of a rhythm to figure out how things are going, and then I can settle in and finally enjoy myself. Floor hockey is a good example of this, because this is the fourth week I've been running it, and I know all of the kids names, so we can just enjoy playing.

These kids are at pivitol moments in their lives, and we have to meet them there. Show them who God is, and make that lasting difference in their lives.

Nuances of Conversation

I have been blessed to talk to Jordan in the past few days not just over the phone, but to actually get to see her via the wonderful invention called the internet. It has been seven months today since we started officially 'dating' -- and we've only spent about a month and a half of that together. Now we are over 1700 miles apart, and you can imagine the strain that puts on a relationship.

What a blessing it is then to finally get to see her smile! You quickly forget all of the little details about a person when you haven't seen them for nearly 2 months, and they all came flooding back. It was a real blessing, and also reminded me of how much of our communication is non-verbal.

Often times, we send signals that we don't even know we were communicating. We receive things that the other person was unaware of, and the way people perceive us is completely dependant on what sort of message we send out about ourselves. Are we shy? Cocky? Confident? Friendly? These are all small things that we say just by the way we stand.

Makes me wish I could have seen what Jesus said through his body language!

Shaping a Worldview

I'm in the process (and it is a process!) of writing my final paper for my Pentateuch course. That involves me doing a whole lot of reading, and trying to get back into the paper writing mode. Thankfully I got through most of my reading work last night, and laid out my outline. But in the process of doing that, something came out loud and clear to me: we need to be cunning.

It is defined in a few different ways. Here are some of the highlights:

1. skill employed in a shrewd or sly manner, as in deceiving; craftiness; guile.
2. adeptness in performance; dexterity: The weaver's hand lost its cunning

One of the major purveyors of the theory of evolution is our lack of understanding. Rather than being wise about how to defend our thoughts against it, we either blindly accept the facts, or we ignorantly deny them. The truth of the matter is that logically, there is an overwhelming amount of evidence that raises red flags. One merely has to ask the questions to discover the truth.

So do the reading, dig a little bit deeper, and ask the questions.

The End of a Week

So ends another week. It's crazy how much that simple statement encapsulates. I feel like I'm in a one week orbit, and everything will start all over again. Sounds like a blast, eh?

The good part about it, is that I'm wrong for this coming week. My volunteers have been doing a fantastic job with the River, and my responsibility is becoming less and less with that. I'll be preaching next week in the main service, and I'm beginning to wind down my time here at Bethel.

Jordan and I have been talking on the phone about twice a week. It's certainly not the ideal way to carry on a relationship, but in many ways, it's more than I was expecting, so I can't complain about that. This time apart is hard, but it's also very good for our relationship as we develop communication skills, and we now both know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we're both in this together.

I'm hanging out with friends tonight, writing a paper this weekend, and spending some quality time in the Word. God is faithful.

The Other End of a Valley

After a few weeks of being completely exhausted, I'm finally beginning to see the road begin to climb upwards, rather than spiral down. I'm looking forward to the weekend, but I need to remember that one step at a time will take me home, one step at a time will keep me moving along the path.

Life will take you many different places, but it is when you focus on the end goal, the city that you've always dreamed for, that you keep everything in perspective. No matter how hard things are going, keep your eyes fixated on that city, and push ever onwards, letting nothing dissuade you.