From the Saturday

This was so cool live, just thought I'd share it with you

The Last Few Days

So life has been pretty busy here. On Saturday Niki and I went to see Copeland and Switchfoot. That was pretty awesome. It was fun to go to a really good concert and just relax and have a good time. Sunday I taught Christian Growth Class. And now the last two nights Niki and I and a number of our youth went in to Winkler to make pizzas. We were doing a fundraiser and sold a little over 300 and so we had to go and make them. It was a really sweet time!!! Plus we got to eat a whole bunch of these delicious pizzas. Now I don't like to make brash statements, but I have to say that Spenst Brothers Meats in Winkler has one of THE BEST pizza's I have ever had. So if you have the misfortune of being in Winkler, make sure you redeem your trip by stopping by their store (it's near the superstore) and pick up a pizza... or if that's not your thing you can try one of their delicious patio steaks. Anyway tonight we have to go and deliver them, should be fun trying to keep 300 pizzas frozen............

My Very hot wife, and me at the Concert








The Whole Team!!








What happens when a group of teenagers gets their hands on a lot of pizza sauce? yup sauce fight!!










I gotta say, I think the hairnet is a stylish look for me

Last Night

As promised here are some pictures. This years winner was Jaimie Dueck and Peter Reimer. It got pretty intense at the end, but it was a good win, and everyone had a really good time. Thanks to everyone who took part, and We'll see you next year!

Eva is the Champion from 2005 and 2006 she is an amazing sharp shooter. This year however she was de-throned and only came in Third Place





This years Champions with the trophy!!! Their names will go down in history!!!

TONIGHT!!! And other bits.

Hey!!! Tonight is our 10th Annual Bridging the Gap Crokinole Tourney! So I'll see you 7:00 At the Church. Should be a sweet time of mixing our youth with the Seniors. Can't wait. I'll post some pics of the winners tomorrow! Of course we are supposed to get hit with a blizzard today, so our turn out might not be so good.

Life is going pretty sweet. Right now I have my desk full of my old Worship leadership class notes and articles. I'm going through them looking for anything that may be helpful as our church continues to discuss musical styles...... found this really awesome article called "Recovering the Priority of God" From the 1998 Nov/Dec issue of Worship Leadership. Here is a great line from that "God is the first priority of the church. Not People. Not ministry. Not growth. Not success. God and God alone occupies the place of ultimate and absolute priority in the church." and then it goes on from there. Pretty good stuff.

Here's a pic of two of my favorite people. Niki and Lennox, don't they look good! They bring so much joy into my life.

Also there is a new J.R.R Tolkien book coming out!! It's called The Children of Hurin. It was started 90 years ago by Tolkien and has just now been finished by his son. Sounds good to me. I always thought it was a shame he didn't write more about Middle Earth. It's scheduled to come out in April. Go over to Amazon to pre-order.

Finally here is an awesome interview with one of my favorite musicians of all time Alice Cooper. It is a really good interview as he shares about his faith and what difference Christianity has made in his life. At the end he makes this great comment “Alice Cooper believes the world needs a shot of morality!” and for more of that you'll have to watch...

If You're having a bad day at work read this

"When you have one of those take-this-job-and-shove-it-days, try this. On your way home, stop at your pharmacy and go to the section where they have thermometers. You will need to purchase a rectal thermometer made by the Q-tip Company. Be sure that you get this brand. When you get home, lock your doors, draw the drapes, and disconnect the phone so you will not be disturbed during your therapy. Change into something comfortable, such as a sweat suit, and lie down on your bed. Open the package containing the thermometer, remove it, and carefully place it on the bedside table so that it will not become chipped or broken. Take the written material that accompanies the thermometer. As you read, notice in small print this statement: "Every rectal thermometer made by Q-tip is personally tested." Close your eyes. Say out loud five times, "Thank you, oh thank you, that I do not work in quality control at the Q-tip Company."
-Mark Buchanan The Rest Of God pages 15-16

Wrath of God

Right now I'm reading Gary A. Haugen's book called "Good news about injustice a witness of courage in a hurting world." Haugen was one of the men appointed by the U.N. to build a case against those guilty of genocide in Rwanda. He has interesting perspective on the injustices of the world since he personally was knee deep in the mass graves of Rwanda. Here’s an interesting quote from his book about the wrath of God.

"God's wrath is out of fashion. It's not something that we hear about, talk about, or even think about. Like animal sacrifices, God's intense and severe anger toward sin strikes us as rather primitive - perhaps appropriate for dense, uncivilized, ancient peoples - something that God has gotten over. As J. I. Packer has observed, such a view probably comes from our habit of, 'following private religious hunches rather than learning about God from his own Word.'

If we truly want to know God, we must endeavor to understand the God who has made himself known in scripture, the God who cannot accommodate himself to the sin of injustice, who can't get used to it, who continually suffers with those who are brutalized in body and spirit by the arrogance of humans. As J. I. Packer has again helpfully commented:

'No doubt it is true that the subject of divine wrath has in the past been handled speculatively, irreverently, even malevolently. No doubt there have been some who have preached the wrath and damnation with tearless eyes and no pain in their hearts. No doubt the sight of small sects cheerfully consigning the whole world, apart form themselves, to hell has disgusted many. Yet if we would know God, it is vital that we face the truth concerning his wrath, however unfashionable it ma by, and however strong our initial prejudices against it. Otherwise we shall not understand the gospel of salvation from wrath, nor the propitiatory achievement of the cross, nor the wonder of the redeeming love of God, nor shall we understand the hand of God in history."

John Mayer

Before I die there are three concerts that I want to experience. U2, Dave Matthews Band, and John Mayer. Well today at Ten O'clock this morning I got my tickets for one of those three!!! Niki and I are going to see John Mayer on April 26 at the MTS center. I can't WAIT!!! It will be an awesome show. And if he play's Neon, I'll die with a smile on my face.

What Does Valentines Mean To You??

What does Valentines Day mean to you? Is it chocolate? Flowers? Candles and romantic music? How about a pillow fight? No I mean it seriously, how about almost a thousand people in the streets of San Francisco smacking each other with feather pillows? Well it's the truth. Yesterday almost a thousand people met in downtown San Francisco for an Annual pillow fight. You come to the place with a concealed pillow and then at 6 pm the half hour long fight begins!! Now that sounds like an awesome time.... I just wouldn’t' want to be wearing my glasses. Could you imagine being there without knowing what was going on? You would think a bunch of crazies got out of the Looney bin.

But man! It looks like a lot of fun.

A Movie to Look Forward to

What can be better than a men's pairs figure skating movie? Well if Jared Heder and Will Ferrell star in it then that would probably be awesome! Odd Day dream? Nope, reality? Yes!

Jealousy

“Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” - Exodus 34:14

Question: How do you deal with a God who’s very name is Jealous, a God that proclaims loudly and frequently that He is a Jealous God, and the fact that we as his people are not supposed to be Jealous?

This was the question I faced the other day. How do I respond? So I asked a few people how they would answer it. The best answer I got was, “Because He’s God, so he can do whatever He wants.” Fortunately this was said with a bit of a smirk, so I knew this wonderful woman that I admire hadn’t just crushed my opinion of her. But still…

So these are my thoughts on the topic.

1) Emotions are from God, and so Jealousy is not always a Bad thing.

Emotions are something that are God given, and important to who we are as people. Jesus showed us a wide variety of emotions during his time on earth. Whether it was anger at the money changers in the Temple, or the tears shed over Jerusalem, Jesus as a man who had emotions and used them. There are times when injustice calls us to a righteous anger. There are times when we hear stories that break our heart and call us into action. Even our sexual urges are something given by God. All of these emotions obviously can be used incorrectly. Anger can turn into destructive violence, sadness can lead to a unhealthy view of the state of the world, and sexual feelings, can lead to a whole host of problems. So is jealousy like these emotions? Can it be used correctly?

2) Really what is Jealousy

Well to answer that last question. First we need a framework, a definition of what Jealousy is. The one I found that actually helped a lot was from Wikipedia (the encyclopedia that allows even idiots to be experts). Anyway, they say. “Jealousy typically refers to the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that occur when a person believes a valued relationship is being threatened by a rival.” So then if Jealousy is our reaction when a valued relationship is being threatened by a rival, I think it starts to make a little more sense. We as the creation of God, are created to be in relationship. Because of the fall and some bad choices on our part, or relationship with God becomes threatened by the entrance of sin and Satan. Now maybe I’m putting human emotions on God, but wouldn’t it make sense for God to become jealous when He sees His perfect creation, His relationship with His children so threatened. This definition has helped be understand how God can be jealous, and how that can be a good thing.

But then we are still left with the question, What about us? Is there ever a place where it is right for us to be jealous? I’d really like your input here, because I can’t think of many. In fact the only one I can really think of would be marriage. When a husband or wife feels there relationship is threatened by an outside force, jealousy kicks in to protect that marriage. Now like all other emotions it can be misused and abused. But within the context of marriage jealousy can be a very good thing.

I guess the problem is that there is a very thin line between jealousy and envy. Envy is that desire for things you don’t have. And often it seems like Jealousy gets lumped in with it. But at least to me, I see a difference. I think I can see how God can be jealous, how there is place for us to be jealous. But at the same time the need to walk with care, to make sure we aren’t slipping over into envy. Longing for something that we have no right to.

So what are your thoughts?

Super Bowl

Ouch! I mean really, I was very glad to see Manning win his super bowl, no matter who you were cheering for, you have to admit the man deserved it. But really! Where were was Chicago yesterday? Not in Miami. At first I thought we were going to have a pretty amazing game... but no. I think Chicago was lucky to have as many points as they did. And here's my beef about watching Super bowl in Canada, where are all those sweet commercials??? Now I am forced to watch them with choppy and grainy image quality (Click here to see them) oh well some of them are pretty good. Well now, I guess either I stop watching sports on Sunday's.... or I try and understand the finer points of NASCAR, hey! Who knows maybe driving around in a big circle 500 times can be fun....
No school today, it was like minus a million or something like that. Which once again begs the question, "Why did anyone move to the prairies in the first place?" I mean wouldn't it make sense for us all to move to Florida?
Anyway that's all, just sort of random.

Best Video of 2007

I know that it is still early to be tossing out such a bold statement like Best Video of 2007... but I really think this is it! This would be THE BEST YOUTH EVENT EVER!!!! Now I know that there is some stiff competition in the world of funny videos. One example is the leaked K-Fed Super Bowl commercial (here) but vote still goes to
THE SLINGSHOT.

I Love Jesus but.....

Hey Check it out, it is well worth the time...