Mudfest Round III

I know these are super late... oops, but here are some sweet pics from Mudfest!

Not much New

Haven't had much to say this week. Things have sort of slowed down since we got back from Saskatchewan. It's kind of nice to have a few free evenings in a row. I got a nice round of golf in with the youth pastors here in town. One of them (Mark) is done at the end of the month so we had to give him a good 'ole farewell. I even didn't do too bad.... I really have gotten better since the first time I went. Anyway that's all for now. Going to the Miller grad this afternoon so that should be pretty sweet.

I am 83% Addicted to Coffee

Mingle² - Free Online Dating

Ryan Leech

Biker Ryan Leech is coming to Altona on Friday. Not sure what time but I'll let you know. You'll want to catch this. Check out what he can do... the part where he rides the chain is INSANE!!!! The 2nd video is rather mind blowing as well.

Grad Party

Wake boarding, knee boarding, tubing, food, and sun. That is what our grad party was on Saturday. It was so sweet to get away with our grads and spend a day relaxing and hanging out. There were seriously moments as I was sitting in the boat ripping around the lake where I had to ask myself, "Am I really getting paid for THIS!" It was such a blast! And just so you can all be jealous of the great time we had, here are some pics (and for the record, no I never did actually get up on the Wake board... next time)

Circle and 8th

Hey go and check 'em out! Circle and 8th!!!! Click here for some sweet tunes!

God On Mute (best book ever!)

I just finished reading Pete Greig's new book called God on Mute. Let me just say, if you don't know who Pete is and you haven't read any of his books you are missing out on one of the greatest authors in the market today. If you are a fan of the Rob Bell, Donald Miller style writing than his books are for you. But of all the stuff of his that I have read this one is the best. Actually I think I would go so far as to say that God on Mute is one of the best books I have ever read (and I do read a lot of books). And I would like to say, I'm not alone in this opinion. Brian McLaren says in the forward, "The book you are now holding is the most recent member of the B-List (there is no A-List. B in this case means, Best, Beautiful, Be-sure to recommend it to others." Elsewhere McLaren goes on to say, "Along with honesty, this is a book of theological depth. Pete draws from the Bible - not in a superficial proof-texty way, but reaching deeply and broadly into the Biblical texts, with a mature sensitivity to context. Not only that, but he draws deeply from his own circle of friends, and of course, he draws deeply from his own experience. One senses that, for all his honest confessions of doubts and confusion, this is a man who talks and listens to God, not just a man who speaks and writes books on how others should do it. Honest and deep. These qualities would be wonderful enough, but this book is also skillfully written.”

God on Mute is broken up into four parts
1) Maundy Thursday. How am I going to get through this?
2) Good Friday. Why aren't my prayers being answered?
3) Holy Saturday. Where is God when heaven is silent?
4) Easter Sunday. When Every prayer is answered!
Each section does an excellent job dealing with the problems and struggles that come from unanswered prayer.

On my part I have to say, I was blown away by his honesty and his willingness to deal with tough questions and face the doubts straight on. I don't know that I have ever read a book that is so honest, and adverse to pat and easy answers. So I say, if you are only going to read one book this entire year this is the one!

It's DONE!!!

Before
After

cha-cha-Changes

Take a good look at it!!! 'Cause tomorrow I start a couple days of holidays, and when I'm done the roof is gonna be a whole different color!!! Yup! Going to be a manly man this week and shingle my roof.

Pictures from the weekend

So here are some pictures from my time at Cedarwood


The Lodge... or at least part of it.










A view from on top of a big rock, looking over the camp













The View from the lodge

















During some of our free time we (Joel, Andrea,
and me) built some awesome forts out of pillows.

Me trying to fit into the awesome fort.

DONE!!!

Just a quick update to say, my actual speaking for the weekend is done. I did the last session at around 8:00pm and now I just get to relax and enjoy the rest of the weekend. Should be good... only down side is I'll end up missing Dover..... Anyway, it was a great weekend. Thanks for all your prayers

At Cedarwood

Right now I'm maxin and relaxin in my speakers suite at Camp Cedarwood. I'm speaking at the Winkler EMMC Sr. Youth retreat. So far I just have a few things to say.
1) Camp Cedarwood is one of the most beautiful camps I have ever been to. The lodge is unbelievable!!! It is so plush, I just couldn't imagine being a camper (or staff here). I'd heard good things, but words just don't do it justice.
2) I am constantly amazed at how the Holy Spirit just comes in power and uses a broken vessel like me. I find this every time. Whether I am preaching or speaking or doing a Bible study, I always get so nervous before speaking. I go over my notes a million times I think, well it's ok, but not great. And then when it actually comes time to share it seems like the Holy Spirit just comes and takes over. I love it when God does that. He is just beyond anything I can think or say.
3) I like being the speaker. It's really sweet not having to organize stuff or worry about the schedule or anything. I just speak couple times and then it's up to me how I spend the rest of my time. It's actually really relaxing.
4) I miss Niki like crazy!!! She went to Saskatchewan on Wednesday so now it's been 4 days, and I am officially at the point where I want to see her so bad it actually makes me almost hurt.
Well I guess that's all for now from beautiful Cedarwood. Thanks to all of you who are praying I really know that they are making a difference.