It's Raining INSIDE!

So I woke up this morning at ten to seven. It was a dark and cloudy morning and I could hear the rain pouring and rushing down the eves. Slowly I got up and got ready to take Lennox for his morning walk. With each step I took towards the door my sense of dread grew, I did not want to step outside in driving rain and walk Lennox, I didn't want to have to ride my bike to my breakfast meeting after my walk with Lennox, I just wanted to stay in my nice warm bed. As I flicked on the outside light imagine my surprise to find that there was no rain coming down! True it was dark and wet, but there was no rain. So I slipped on my shoes and left with Lennox. Forty minutes later as I walked back to the house I saw that the basement light was on. And I realized that after hiding out last night (Niki had her Jr. Youth small group over) I had left the light on. So I tied Lennox up gave him some food and went downstairs to turn off the light. All of a sudden my senses were over run! Water beneath my feet, and the sound of pouring water in my ears... and what did my eyes see... that our hot water tank burst all down the seem and there was water in our basement! That lovely rain I had heard in the morning? Not rain, but water escaping the confines of it's tank. A quick call to Dwight (the man to call in any emergency) and I had stopped the water... and now the clean up continues. There is a plumber coming this afternoon to give us a new, more efficient, and hopefully dryer Hot water heater.
Well that's the news from here.

Something That Bothers Me

So I don't usually listen to a lot of Christian music, it's not that I don't like it, or have anything against it, I just don't. Anyway I was doing some searching today for some sites that give Christian alternatives to secular bands that I could pass on as a resource to parents, and I came across this site that really ticked me. On this site (which will remain nameless) They had some Alternatives like:
If you like Goo Goo Dolls then try Jars of Clay
If you like Linkin Park then try Kutless
If you like Coldplay then try Tree 63
If you like Black Eyed Peas then try Toby Mac
If you like Rage Against The Machine then try Pillar
If you likeDave Matthews Band then try Caedmon's Call
Now I happen to like all of these bands quite a bit, but don't insult my intelligence by suggesting that Caedmon's Call is ANYTHING like Dave Matthews Band. And I can't remember the last time I listened to Goo Goo Dolls and thought, man! this sounds like Jars of Clay. I understand what these people are trying to do, and it's good, but maybe they should at least listen to the secular bands before they try to find an alternative. There it is, my rant.

Weirdo Loose In Toba!

Now I realize that Koehn is going to say, "Yeah, tell me something new, Manitoba is full of weirdos" but you have to understand. Something very frightening happened as I was watching Breakfast Television this morning as I ate my Special K. Host Jon Ljungberg was learning how to play the West African Xylophone and everything was nice and light hearted, and then I read this on the scrolling news headlines below, "Dangerous Mental Patient escaped." Suddenly the milk in my cereal curdles, my palms grow sweaty and I stay glued to the TV waiting for more info... where is he? Is it even a he? Or is it a crazy lady? What does he/she look like? How dangerous? All I know is that there is some dangerous psycho running around my province with a weird haircut and..... and… what! How do I avoid him/her if I don't even know what he/she looks like? Is he/she loose in Thompson? Or Winkler (Of course a strange person from Winkler is hardly worthy of the news. I still think they need to put a fence around Winkler to keep all those crazies off the roads) Where is he/she? Fortunately the latest on Belinda Stronach's scandal with Mr. Domi came on and I was diverted.

I was thinking, maybe Belinda should be our next Prime Minister, with the way she keeps making the news with all her relationship stuff, and the way she has destroyed the Domi household (of course that is purely conjecture because nothing is confirmed) it would be like having our own version of Clinton. Maybe the country is going down the tubes, but at least there would be something interesting to talk about at coffee. Besides it's so hard to be scared of a crazy looney when you can just watch the news and see how messed up Ottawa really is.

Anyway, last night we didn't have Sr. Youth (going to see Kutless on Friday) and I had the chance to watch Lost. Last night they did a recap of the whole story. My biggest complaint with Lost is that I was in Bible school when the first season came out, and I never knew what was going on. Last year I tried to give it a chance, and I would catch the ocasional episode. I loved the show, but still struggled to get into it. BUT NOW!!! Now I have seen the story, I feel like I have a bit of a grasp on it, and I am SO excited for this next season. It has great acting, an amazing story, and I can't wait to see what happens this year. The VCR is all set to tape every Wednesday night. Any of you interested in coming over after youth to watch? The Altona chapter of Dan King's Lost club?? Anyway, I'm pretty pumped to watch this year. Oh! If anyone has the first two seasons on DVD and wouldn't mind loaning them out, I would love to watch them, so let me know.

In a world that wants
And This
And This
What is the Answer?

“To find contentment, enjoy your life without comparing it with that of another"
- Condorcet

A Few Sites

So I've come across a few nice sites for your enjoyment.
The first is DailyLit. This is a website that will email you short sections of different books each day, or once a week. There are hundreds of authors here like John Milton and Thomas Moore, Lao Tzu, Edgar Alan Poe, Plato Homer, Huxley and so on. It's a great way to get some of those classic books broken up for you so you just spend a bit of time reading each day.

The other site is RG Animation Studios. They have some very funny clips that I'm going to be using to start off youth nights. The ice climbing one just about killed me. Well worth the time to check out

Why Gil Grissom is like Jesus

Today is the season premiere of the greatest show on television. CSI season 7 kicks off tonight. Of course I have youth every Thursday, but fortunately I have a TV antenna now, so I can at least tape it and watch it later (anyone interested in coming over late Thursday nights?). So, anyway as I eagerly await the kick off of a new season, I was thinking about what spiritual lessons I can learn from this show.

And I decided that Gil Grissom really reminds me of Jesus. What I mean by this is that like Jesus, Gil is a mentor and father to the people on his shift. For example, in Season 2 Episode 3 (Ellie) Grissom hands the responsibility of night shift over to Warrick. Warrick doesn't have as much seniority as Nick or Sara, and he might not even be the best CSI for the job, but Grissom gives him the night shift anyway. Throughout the seasons you can see Grissom grooming Warrick and helping him to be the best CSI possible. And it isn't just Warrick, you can see it in the way he treats all of the CSIs, he expects them to learn from his example and carry it on.

Catherine gets it, she takes Greg under her wing in Season 4 and starts to train him up so he can come out of the lab and into the field. Like all good mentors Grissom, Warrick, Catherine, Greg
take others and train them to become better than they are, much like Jesus did.

Jesus chose disciples who might not have been all that great, all that ready, and gave them a great responsibility to pass on the message of the gospel. He took them from the lab (a normal monotonous life) and took them into the field (a more fulfilling life). I also see Jesus in the way that Grissom is a very tolerant person, and it is not often that you see him become upset at a suspect or other people that take part in odd behavior (Fur and Loathing is a prime example). Actually the only time that he has ever lost his cool is with cops who aren't on the straight and narrow (Pharisees).

It goes without saying that Grissom falls very short of how wonderful Jesus is, and perhaps I've stretched things a little far to justify my addiction to this awesome show, but at the same time I do see Jesus in it, and I think there are some great lessons there to be learnt.

A Sweet Show

Man Last night was SO awesome!!! I went to go and see Silverstein Moneen He is Legend and Underoath with Maggie and Ryan! What a sweet show! He is Legend Opened, up the show, since I hadn't ever heard them I thought they were pretty sweet. The lead singer did this sort of weird dance, and the one guitar player kept flexing for the crowd, while the other one looked like he was about to have a fit and walk off stage at any moment. But it was pretty sweet. Moneen played second... They were by far my favorite of the night! They had so much energy and charisma that part way through their set I realized that I just had the biggest smile on my face! I couldn't get rid of it!! I can't wait to see them again sometime. Silverstein was actually really good. I wasn't sure what to expect.... I was sort of expected them to start swearing and stuff, but they were really clean and put on a very good show. Finally Underoath took the stage. They were the whole reason I went in the first place... but after Moneen I couldn't have really cared less. That said their show was really good, their keyboard player is nuts!! But they only played a couple songs and then the lead singer was like "This next song is called... oh actually this is our last song." Apparently the other bands had taken too long and they had to close it down... plus their drummer had cut his hand somehow and was in a lot of pain drumming... so they left, and then they came out and played three more songs one of which was Some will seek forgiveness, others escape. It was awesome you could totally see some of the crowd worshiping and singing along. Yup! Such a sweet night!

One final thought. I was standing in one of the corners before the show just watching people walk around, and I was struck my something. The complete unoriginality of emo kids. I mean really I saw a lot of Alexisonfire shirts, lots of Underoath, and a few other bands. But pretty much every kid there was wearing a black band shirt (one of maybe 7 bands) and had tight pants (I saw WAY too many guys wearing girls pants last night) and a cell phone. I thought emo was supposed to be about originality and expressing yourself. But the only self I saw being expressed was the self that follows the crowd and does what everyone else does. I think the next time I go to a show I'm going to dress up like an old school Mennonite.

I'M A GOTH!!!!

Funny post over at Marko's blog. Here is the scoop, a Church sent this letter out to parents in their church giving them things to look for to find out if their kid is a goth. The letter goes like this

If Your Child is a Gothic, Reform Through the Lord!

Listed below are some warning signs to indicate if your child may have gone astray from the Lord. Gothic (or goth) is a very obscure and often dangerous culture that young teenagers are prone to participating in.
The gothic culture leads young, susceptible minds into an imagined world of evil, darkness, and violence. Please seek immediate attention through counseling, prayer, and parental guidance to rid your child of Satan’s temptations if five or more of the following are applicable to your child:

-Frequently wears black clothing.
-Wears band and/or rock t-shirts.
-Wears excessive black eye makeup, lipstick or nailpolish.
-Wears any odd, silver jewelry or symbols. Some of these include: reversed crosses, pentagrams, pentacles, ankhs or various other Satanic worshipping symbols.
-Shows an interest in piercings or tattoos.
-Listens to gothic or any other anti-social genres of music. (Marilyn Manson claims to be the anti-Christ, and publicly speaks against the Lord. Please discard any such albums IMMEDIATELY.)
-Associates with other people that dress, act or speak eccentrically.
-Shows a declining interest in wholesome activities, such as: the Bible, prayer, church or sports.
-Shows an increasing interest in death, vampires, magic, the occult, witchcraft or anything else that involves Satan.
-Takes drugs.
-Drinks alcohol.
-Is suicidal and/or depressed.
-Cuts, burns or partakes in any other method of self-mutilation. (This is a Satanic ritual that uses pain to detract from the light of God and His love. Please seek immediate attention for this at your local mental health center.)
-Complains of boredom.
-Sleeps too excessively or too little.
-Is excessively awake during the night.
-Dislikes sunlight or any other form of light. (This pertains to vampires promoting the idea that His light is of no use.) -Demands an unusual amount of privacy.
-Spends large amounts of time alone.
-Requests time alone and quietness. (This is so that your child may speak to evil sprits through
meditation.)
-Insists on spending time with friends while unaccompanied by an adult.
-Disregards authority figures; teachers, ministers and elders are but a few examples of this.
-Misbehaves at school.
-Misbehaves at home.
-Eats goth-related foods. Count Dracula cereal is an example of this.
-Drinks blood or expresses an interest in drinking blood. (Vampires believe this is how to attain Satan. This act is very dangerous and should be stopped immediately.) -Watches cable television or any other corrupted media sources. (Ask your local church for proper programs that your child may watch.) -Plays videos games that contains violence or are of a role-playing nature.
-Uses the internet excessively and frequently makes time for the computer.
-Makes Satanic symbols and/or violently shakes head to music.
-Dances to music in a provocative or sexual manner.
-Expresses an interest in sex.
-Masturbates
-Is homosexual and/or bisexual.
-Pursues dangerous cult religions. Such include: Satanism, Scientology, Philosophy, Paganism, Wicca, Hinduism and Buddhism.
-Wears pins, stickers or anything else that contains these various phrases: “I’m so gothic, I’m dead”, “woe is me”, “I’m a goth”.
-Claims to be a goth.

If five or more of these apply to your child, please intervene immediately. The gothic culture is dangerous and Satan thrives within it. If any of these problems persist, enlist your child into your local mental health center.

Now I don't want to take lightly the darkness of the goth culture, but according to this five or more magazine quiz formula, then I am a goth. I scored at least nine maybe more on this list.

I love one of the comments left on Mark's blog

"If I read this correct Jesus was a Goth too.
1 Associates with other people that dress, act or speak eccentrically.
2 Drinks alcohol.
3 Is suicidal and/or depressed. (was very burdened/saddened by what he had to do, ie cross)
4 Is excessively awake during the night.
5 Spends large amounts of time alone
6 Requests time alone and quietness.
7 Insists on spending time with friends while unaccompanied by an adult.
8 Disregards authority figures; teachers, ministers and elders are but a few examples of this.
9 Misbehaves at school. (at temple alone when a child)
10 Misbehaves at home. (Jesus’ quote about who are my mother and brothers?)
11 Plays videos games that contains violence or are of a role-playing nature. (Would Jesus play the Left Behind video game?)"

Maybe five step formulas just don't work....

Here's The KICK OFF!

So it's been a busy past few days. On Wednesday we kicked off our Sr. Youth with a bunch of games in the park! It was great to see so many faces that I haven't seen all summer. Thursday was our Jr. Youth Kick off, and what an event that was. I am constantly surprised by how much energy 50 Jr. High kids can have!!! The highlight of the night was when a simple snack deteriorated into a wild water fight! I think I speak for all of us when I say that it was an awesome way to start off our year. I was talking to some people from another church this weekend and they were saying that they could hear kids screaming in the park so they decided to stay far away. Then this weekend I had my first speaking gig. I spoke at the Bergthaler Sr. Youth kickoff retreat. I spoke on quieting down, taking out the ipod, and listening to hear the God who speaks. It went over really well and we spent lots of time just listening. I know that Christ definitely spoke directly to me and my heart. So yeah that's been my last few days. Now another week begins, Maybe this week I'll be a better blogger....

SEEING

So I was walking back from Parkside School with Lennox (I was dropping off a sign for our Jr. Youth Kick Off) and I started to think about a few things. The first is since I got Lennox my eyes have been opened to a whole new world. Every bush, twig, and leaf, is just an adventure waiting to happen. On our morning walks we stop a million times every block because he has to sniff the sewer, the hedge, some nice ladies flower garden. There are a few lessons there for me. The first is to see the wonder of God in everything, even the dead leaf blowing across a desolate street. And the second is that I need to slow down on the goal, and enjoy the walk. I keep pulling Lennox along by the leash, telling him we have to go, we have to get back home. But to Lennox it is not about the trip it's about experiencing everything the world has to offer. I can't imagine God pulling me along by a leash telling me that I'd better hurry along and get to the destination. I believe he wants me to enjoy His world. So my new goal is to enjoy those sunrises I see when I walk Lennox, to savor the taste of my coffee, it smile at how Lennox chases leaves, to take pleasure in every moment with my wife... to love the life that is a gift from God. Just one moment that made me smile. The other morning I came into the breezeway to get Lennox for his walk and I saw that somehow he had gotten my sandals and taken them to bed with him. It really made be feel so special, and really started my day off right. He is such a wonderful dog.

AMAZING!!!!

Allow Victor to blow your mind! Trust me it is worth the five minutes!!

Lennox

So here is the man!!! Lennox Lewis a gold medalist Olympian, and World Heavy Weight Champion. But don't be fooled! This man isn't just a pretty face! He also has a Honorary doctorate from the University of North London, and has used his money to open and fund the Lennox Lewis College as a three year pioneering education pilot to support disaffected youngsters at risk from slipping through the 'net'. But perhaps he is best known for this fight! "On June 8th of 2002 Lennox faced perhaps the most challenging fights of his career against Mike Tyson. The challenge consisting largely of the pre-fight hype from Tyson's bad boy reputation threats of eating Lewis's unborn children. Each fighter was to receive $20 million for the widely publicized bout. In a January press conference Tyson also bit Lewis on the leg. Lewis knocked Tyson out in the 8th round cementing his legacy as the greatest fighter of his time."

So what does all this have to do with my life? Well after a lot of talking and discussing, Niki and I have added to our family. We are pleased to announce that Lennox has joined our family!
He is a beautiful German Shepherd, Golden Lab cross. At five months old he still has a lot of growing to do, but he is very wonderful. He's quite (except when we leave him alone) and is SUPER friendly to everyone! In fact if you are in the market to steal a dog this would be the one. All you have to do is get him in the car with you, and you have a new best friend!.... but please don't! We like him too much for you to do that (Although if he keeps getting up so early!!!!) Niki and I have learnt so much in the day that we've had him. For example, our carefree days of taking off are gone, as well there is this little thing called responsibility that we (I mean I) have to learn. But he and I had a very nice hour long walk this morning. So yeah! I guess that's the big news for us today!

Basketball, piano, and a Rotti

Man!! Who doesn't love a David and Goliath story... especially when the Goliath is the U.S. This morning I woke up to hear that Greek basketball team, a team with NO NBA players had beaten the U.S. team 101-95 (Story here) well, that just started my morning right.

Last night Niki and I played around with our living room furniture trying to figure out where to put her piano (it's coming in a few weeks). We basically decided that we didn't want to move anything, we like our house the way it is. Also the options for where we can put a piano are very limited (only one wall in our living room that isn’t an outside wall)... so we're just going to shove the couch down the wall a bit and stick the piano in there. I guess it will work. Niki and I are both looking forward to being able to play again. Despite the space issue we are both looking forward to having it around.

Also the search for a dog has begun! Earlier in the summer I expressed my desire for a furry companion, well now that I have to go ahead, I have begun to scour the web looking for the perfect companion. One that will do well alone for the day, but that is also ready for some good activity with me. And I have found one that I think is perfect. It is a 2 year old Rotti Shepherd cross. Despite their reputation Rottweilers are actually very friendly dogs, and both Shepherds and Rotti's are supposed to do well inside, as long as they get enough exercise. So yeah... here's a picture of what the dog COULD look like... Niki says it looks like a fat German Shepherd, but I like the big heads. So lets have a vote. Let me know if you think it's an ugly dog, or a sweet mans dog.