A Few Funnies

Thanks Dan for this one... I laughed so hard.

Watch your aim boys

United Church

So I was flipping channels at lunch and I caught this commercial. I thought it raises some interesting questions. While I disagree with the line that the United Church has drawn in terms of not turning people away, and accepting sin. I do think that this commercial really shows a Biblical truth. Jesus did except people, and allow them to come to Him.... even.... the Samaritans (*gasp). It is unfortunate when the Church gets the "Bouncer" mentality. I think we need to become less like the Disciples keeping the children away, and more like Jesus, inviting people to walk with him, even those who might seem a little sketchy (if you know what I mean). Anyway watch and let me know what you think

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Life In Altona

So the rumor mill is working over time in Winkler. I mentioned a few weeks ago about a anti-aircraft shell that was found at the MCC here in Altona, well in Winkler they heard that a WHOLE bunch of shells were found in the EMMC Church parking lot.... yup folks look out, the pacifists are stocking up!

In my last post I mentioned three things I like: Moving, Music, and video games... well I don't like moving any more.... I DO like unpacking and decorating, but moving sucks.... I thought I would put this here so that the next time I think about a move I'll remember.... not so fun. The highlight of the move was when we were using the trucks to move our furniture, and we had put a box of books on top of the dresser... true it looked pretty peccaries but it was heavy and seemed pretty sturdy. Well we did really well until the busiest corner in Altona (right by the MCC) when BLAM!!!!!! the box fell off and EXPLODED on the road. Books EVERYWHERE! It was really funny. The poor guy driving, he felt so bad. I just thought it was funny, good times. Fortunately all the books were just kids books and there wasn’t anything there that had sentimental value… or was worth reading over and over again.

Well here are few things worth checking out. Sticky Pad This is.... well its a sticky pad for your desk top. Thanks Dan, very handy

Optus Tennis is a game that I find very difficult (stupid wall throws off the bounce) anyway so far I only have five.... but I'm a lefty.

3 of my favorite things, Moving, Music, Video Games

So it is Friday... or in this McCorkindale house it is moving day! ... sort of... well not really.... but we can pretend. Last night after youth we went to our new house and got the keys, so today we are going to move all the breakable stuff, and little things that we haven't packed yet. Also we need to do the hydro and phone... all those little things. My guess is what is going to happen is we are going to start moving, and then we will move everything that we can fit into our car (and some stuff that doesn't) and all that will be left to move tomorrow is the furniture... patience has never been a strong suit. So I discovered this great band the other day so I thought I would share them with the rest of you they are called The Fray they were touring with Weezer in 2005, and have a coldplayesk type sound. It's getting lots of plays on my itunes. They are Christians but they don't want a mere label to be their sole identifier... I like that... You can read about them in the March/April edition of Relevant Magazine Some other great music to check out is the new Stavesacre. A classic Christian Rock band coming out with a sweet new album!

One final tidbit of news. It seems as though the new Left Behind Eternal Forces video game is raising a bit of a stir. Apparently it shares a lot in common with Grand Theft Auto... except instead of being a gang banger you get to be a "Prayer Warrior" Just read the article... It's pretty interesting. Here's my favorite quote
"You've got a generation of boys in this country who are spending sometimes dozens of hours a week blowing away people," Thompson said. "Now they're going to have the opportunity to do it in a Christian setting and, you know, where does it stop?"

I didn't know I could "blow people away" in a Christian setting... cool!

God's Wisdom

"I will discard their most brilliant ideas... God has made them look foolish and has shown their wisdom to be useless nonsense (1 Corinthians 1:19-20)."
Ever have one of those moments where you start to speak, and about three and a half seconds in you know it's going to be a rough night?? Welcome to last nights Bible Study.... Things were going well, some good 'ole Bible Jeopardy, a video that I put together of people doing stupid things, and then it's my turn to talk about the wisdom of God, based out of 1 Corinthians 1..... well, I'm not exactly sure what happened.... but it wasn't pretty.

There is something about looking at 30 blank faces that just makes you want to climb into a hole, but what is there to do? Push on and hope that no remembers that you had a bizarre stutter form out of no where, hope that no one remembers how jumbled and messed up the whole talk was? Well I pushed through, and got finished the study, much to the relief of both the youth and me. Then it was a good time of hanging out and doing whatever it is we do after youth.

It wasn't until later that the irony of it all hit me. I was in the shower and thinking about how I don't really ever want that to happen again, and then I remembered some of what I had been trying to tell the youth.

God uses the stupid, the messed up, the shameful, the useless things of the world to do great works. If you were planning on choosing a leader to go and fight the army of Pharaoh, you wouldn't choose a stuttering 80 year old coward to lead your people... but that is exactly who God uses. If you were going to start a new religion you would do it like Mohammad, you would see an angel, and create a political power, a religion of might, a religion of the sword. You wouldn’t use a cross. You wouldn’t use a shameful, embarrassing symbol to introduce people to Salvation. I wrote a bit about the shame of the cross a while ago so you can go and check it out if you want (Click Here) But the basic idea is, you wouldn’t want the cross to be your reminder of what God did for you.

The point of all of this is that;
God uses the things that we wouldn’t ever think possible to be used, and does great things with them.

So my prayer is that God would use my foolishness, and my weaknesses to speak loudly into the lives of the youth.... and I'm also praying that He doesn't feel the need to humble me every bible study night.....

Finders Keepers.... It's a Law!

The verdict is in!! Maybe you heard about the 10 year old girl who found a Tim Horton's cup at school in the garbage but couldn't roll up the rim, so she had her friend do it for her.... and what do you know! It was a winner! and a RAV 4 Sport no less! Well the courts have ruled. The cup goes to the person with the intention to roll. In other words Finders Keepers... it's a law.

In other news speeding fines here in Manitoba have been increased... That shouldn't be too much of a problem since no one can afford to drive anymore anyway... but if you do decide to put the pedal to the metal, remember that the fine for doing 110 is now $140, don't say I didn't warn you.

Finally, today I have a great link to a pretty awesome website. Sites Unseen is FULL of links to other Christian Websites... I think it pretty much covers everything, so check it out and see what's worth checking out on the web.

A WINNER!!

So it was wonderful to be in Hepburn for a few days. It was really nice to sit and relax with my family, watch three hours of CSI with Jared, sitting on Koehn's deck with him and Kevin. Grad was pretty fun too (and now I am dreading CMU's... I just don't think it will be as much fun... sorry Alicia)... yup it was good to be in Saskatchewan. But the real news is, I FINALLY WON!!!! First we had to wait 30 minutes to get our food from Tim Hortons in Yorkton, but it paid off!! As I rolled up the rim I finally saw something other than that evil, malicious, "Please Play Again!" But this time the cup did not mock me, it did not taunt me to try again, instead it told me that I had WON A COFFEE!!! True it is no TV, or RAV 4 but at least I got something... they say the odds of winning are 1/9 and it took me 9 coffees to finally win, but at least I won :D

Last Night

Last night was AWESOME!!! I think that it was by far one of my favorite youth nights so far! To start the night I got to see Cody and Stefan, you have no idea how good it is to see people that know you from the past! Cody used to have the room right on the right of my room and Stefan had the room on my left, so it was like being back in the dorms for a little while! All this to say, it was encouraging to have them in my town, in my new Church.... and now for some history...

Four days ago I phoned up Cody and said, "Hey do you want to get a team together and come out and lead worship for our youth?" Cody said yes, and started to look for a worship team. Well last night we had a worship night/ Journey To The Cross, and it was incredible! Considering that Cody's band hadn't practiced and we had no order of service or great plans, things went very smoothly (Maybe we need to just relax more in our church services and let the band play according to the spirit, let people talk when the spirit leads, instead of planning out our services all the time…. Thoughts for another day.)
Last night was one of those times when the Spirit opens your eyes and you can see how He is moving and working. For me it was a very encouraging time and it was great to have the band play... I think that Cody's skill as a worship leader has grown by leaps and bounds since he was Chapel band leader @ Bethany... and he was pretty good then. It was awesome to praise Jesus for the cross and His great love and majesty.

Well, while we were singing upstairs we kept sending youth downstairs to walk through 13 stations that lead you through the last supper, crucifixion, and resurrection. I had gone down on Monday and thought it was so awesome. Last night after all of the youth left, I went back downstairs and read the prayers that they had written on the walls. It was so amazing! I really don’t have the words to express to you how I felt.

But allow me to share two of my highlights from My Journey.

The first thing that really stuck out to me was at a little table where there were 30 pieces of silver for you to hold as you reflected on what Judas must have been thinking and feeling (by the way the Catholic is looking at the life of Judas again and he may be given the title of Saint). One of the thoughts that went through my mind, is that 30 coins is so little, it is hardly worth anything, and yet it cost Jesus His life. How often to I nail Jesus to the cross for nothing, for a small selfish choice that leads to sin....

The other moment that really stuck out to me was when I held a thick rough rope, and thought about how they tied Jesus and took him away, and the pain that he must have endured, just from the tight knots they would have tied around his arms... never mind a nail through the wrist. To think at any moment he could have said, "enough" and left the cross behind, and instead he chose to say, "It is finished." Even though all the pain and humiliation, he died for me.... and you.

Well last night was awesome, it was great to see God move, always encouraging! Anyway I have a few things to wrap up this morning and then it’s off to Hepburn for grad!! Time for family, friends, and some time to relax!

Joy and Sorrow

It is with mixed feelings that I write today’s post. Yesterday my Grandma McCorkindale, or as I have called her since I can remember, Little Grandma, passed away. There is both joy and sorrow in this. She has been sick for a while and in and out of the hospital, and we knew it was time for her to go. As well in the past few years she had really started to pursue Christ, and was making things right between her and God, so it is with great excitement that I look forward to being with her again! I am also so glad that my dad was able to be there and hold her as she died. He was there recite scripture, pray with her, and let her know that she was loved by us. In some way it makes it easier knowing that dad was there, like some part of me was there with her as well.

I'm going to miss her. The popsicles that we ate every time we were there, her apartment with the stuff from her and grandpa's trips, The English mints in the glass jar with the cork top, playing cards with her. Grandma is the person who gave me my first loan so that I could buy my first car… and for that matter the loan for my second car. I loved two summers ago when I was paying off my car. Each month I would write her a letter and send the cheque with it, and shortly after I would receive a letter back. I think that perhaps that summer I was closer to her than I had ever been before....

I think one of the greatest tragedies of human life is that as a child you don't care about all the things they could tell you and teach you, and then once you are old enough it's too late. I am so glad that I called her a few weeks ago, just to tell her what I was doing, and that I loved her. I'm glad I don't have to regret not telling her something before she died, and I’m glad I could tell her I loved her.

Well to those of you who read this, I wish you could have known my Little Grandma, I know she would have enriched your life like she did mine. So here's to you grandma.

Hired Guns

So from time to time I read about this thing called perpetual adolescents. That is, when people who are at the age where they should be more concerned about starting families, making money, listening to classical music and thinking of adult type things, decide to live at home, play video games, pierce their ears, and listen to rap music... or something like that. Well it should come as no surprise that this will eventual create a society that is so bored that they come up with all sorts of crazy ideas to keep the adrenaline flowing. Here is one of the newest crazes for the adrenaline, not quite grown up person.

It's Called STREET WARS

Basically this is what happens:
At the start of the game you will receive a manila envelope containing the following:
-A picture of your intended target(s)
-The home address of your intended target(s)
-The work address of your intended target(s)
-The name of your intended target(s)
-Contact information of your intended target(s)

Upon receipt of these items, your (or your team's) mission is to find and kill (by way of water gun, water balloon or super soaker) your target(s).
You can hunt your target down any way you see fit; you can pose as a delivery person and jack them when they open the door, disguise yourself and take them out on the street, etc.
If you are successful in your assassination attempt, the person you killed will give you their envelope and the person they were supposed to kill becomes your new target.

This continues until you work yourself through all the players and retrieve the envelope with your (or your team's) picture(s) and name(s). Then you win. Cash…but first live in fear.



I gotta say this sounds AWESOME!!! .... but for some reason I just don't think it would work in Altona.

Major Court Ruling!!

Here is one of those news stories that you feel morally obligated to pass on...


"Toronto Court Ruling" from the Globe and Mail Newspaper
Toronto,Canada (AP) -A seven year old boy was at the center of a Toronto courtroom drama yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him. The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with the child custody law and regulations requiring that family unity be maintained to the degree possible. The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live with her. When the judge suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried out that they also beat him. After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him. After two recesses to check legal references and confer with child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the Toronto Maple Leafs, whom the boy firmly believes are not capable of beating anyone.

God Speaks

Well I have to apologize for not having anytime to write yesterday, but it was just nuts. We took Jr. Youth Swimming at the Steinbach pool... nothing like a hour and a half bus ride with 37 grade 7 and 8's... Good prep for our 3 hour bus ride to Camp Arnes at the end of the month!!!!

I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but there seems to be a huge influx of books discrediting the Christian faith. I believe that a lot of this has to do with the huge success of The Da Vinci Code, but in the last few weeks I have heard of at least four other books that question the accuracy of the gospels on everything from who Jesus' father was, to how Jesus didn't actually die on the cross. And so, like the good post-modern Christian that I am, I wan to share just one of my personal experiences and how I know Jesus lives!


On Monday I was struggling with what I was going to preach about on Sunday... Niki had to work from 12-5 so I stayed in the office all day and around 12:30 I decided I needed to spend some serious time in prayer. So what I did is I turned on my itunes, set it on my "meditation" play list, and set Tim' Hughes' song Everything on repeat and meditated on the words, and how God is there in my eating, sleeping, waking, working, and He really is my everything. Well after letting the song play for a few times I began to feel that it was time to set the player on random and allow God to speak to me through the music. So I went changed the settings and got back down on my knees and, as I reflected on how God is my everything, I realized that there are things in my life that I don't want to give over to Him... mostly because I am afraid that if I truly trust God to take everything He will try and ruin my nice comfortable life. So as I am wrestling with my fears, a song written by my good friend Betty called Fear Not begins to play. The gist of the song is, Fear not for the Lord your God is with you and he is my close friend with whom I walk.... talk about a comfort! All of a sudden my fears are put to rest because, "duh!! of course God is my close friend and I don't need to be scared because he is my friend and He loves me and will always do what is best." Well of course this leads me to praise God all the more! The next song was Matt Dyck's (sorry Matt I don't have your blog address yet) rendition of God Himself Is With Us, which was incredible....
Anyway, this is getting long, so lets just say that Kutless and Copeland, also spoke to me VERY deeply, and I could tell that Jesus was speaking TO ME!


Sometimes we wonder if God still speaks like he did to Paul/Saul on the Damascus road, but to me on Monday afternoon God was speaking to me as clearly as He did to Paul that day. I hope that this could be some sort of encouragement to you today. God speaks, and in a way that we can hear and understand!

Explosive News

Hey, so I wasn't sure if I was going to have time to write today, starting to feel the pressure of sermon prep, but I think things are moving along nicely now. Who knew that "Deliver us from evil." would be such a huge topic.

Anyway, today I was waiting for Niki to finish work and I was listening to the news on CBC radio and Altona had this big exciting story, so I thought I'd share the highlights. Basically what happened is the volunteers at MCC (a great place by the way) were going through a bunch of stuff that had been donated, and what did they find? A 50 year old Anti-Aircraft shell. So they called the cops, and the police came and locked it in a weapons depot until the army could come out and take care of it. Apparently it had been fired but never exploded, so there was actually a chance that it could go off... Sounds just like the episode of Grey’s Anatomy that I watched a while ago. I guess that a few weeks ago a teacher in California (don't quote me on that) had a shell, similar to this one, that he used as a paper weight, and one day it blew up and took of his hand and a bit of his face... Well glad that didn't happen here. On the noon program today they were interviewing the Altona Chief of Police as well as the corporal who disposed of the shell. I guess the police are looking for the guy who donated the shell… shouldn’t be too hard in a town of pacifists. Yup! Just an average day in Altona.

One of the Weirdest things I've ever seen

So we are all used to the gross and bloody pictures of the pro-life camp. The abortion is murder signs, the stop killing our unborn children stuff. Well the pro-lifer's have a new strategy. See Brittany Spears (on right) The sculpture is the latest in the pro-life campaign… sort of… Here is the description of the statue, "The life-size pop princess is naked and pregnant, crouching face-down on a bare-toothed bear rug as the baby's head appears on the opposite end." check out the ABC story. Bizarre!! Even as I write this I wonder if I really want to put this on my blog.... and yet it is so fascinatingly weird that I feel compelled to do it..... this is so weird. Anyway if you care, the sculpture is Daniel Edwards and he has a website you can look at... anyway I should get back to work. I’m preaching on Sunday so I should really start digging into it.
What did Jesus mean when He said, “Deliver us from evil.” What was the evil He was talking about, Satan, Man, Sin, the Roman Empire…. Hmmmm so many questions.