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.

Time Saving Technology and some Pics from S'toon

So I'm back in the office. There is something very wonderful about high-speed internet and life in the office. Saskatoon was a great experience, I loved it! I learnt so much and had a great time doing it! Besides learning tons about refugees, justice, and evangelism, I also discovered the newest in time saving technology SharpReader is this great little program that works kind of like Outlook. You "Subscribe" to different websites and blogs that you like, and then when they are updated it lets you know! No more checking back over and over again to see if I've updated! Now it just does it for you! Thanks to Dan and Dana now I just have to figure out why blogs aren't updated when I open them on Mozilla!? Well here are some of my fav pics from the Saskatoon trip. I'll try and update a little more often now that I'm back in the land of the connected.

Check out these bathrooms! Moxies was redone in Saskatoon! now it is super classy! I highly recommend a trip there just for the bathroom experience. Same low prices, now with LCD TVs in the bathroom. What you can't see is the 40in and fireplace to the right!

Traditional Ethiopian Coffee at Saba's!! It was so strong and black. Now I understand this old Turkish proverb "Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death, and sweet as love."... oh it was an experience that no one should miss.

Somehow I ended up playing piano at the Spanish Church... ME!! who hasn't played in years... who hasn't ever played piano in a band.... but it was fun!

Yes, the children are beautiful!! It is amazing that even though they have been through so much, they are so full of trust and joy! What a blessing to meet them!

Chalo

So here it is day three of Chalo, It is super great!!! So much fun to sit with Dana and talk about the old times and who is doing what. I love the chance to reminisce and talk about the good ‘ole days.

Besides that there have been all sorts of learning experiences. One of the most significant things so far for me was watching Hotel Rwanda on the first night. There were a lot of overwhelming feelings that went along with it. I remembered doing a Refugee experience through MCC at Bethany a few years ago. We just went in to the cafeteria and were sitting down for lunch when a whistle blew and without knowing why, we were running. I spent the rest of the day without shoes, standing in the sun, walking for miles, not eating not understanding what was happening. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be in the shoes of someone from Rwanda or one of the many other places in our world where these things are happening. To be fearing violence, torture, death, just because my hair is curly, or because I moved into Altona and wasn’t born there.

One of the lines that really stuck out to me was when the journalists had captured some graphic images of the genocide that was happening and the hero thought that for sure now the West would come and help. And the Journalist says something like, “Maybe they’ll come, but most likely people will say, ‘that sucks’ watch the commercials.” It reminded me of Contemporary Thought with Gil. What is the point in watching the news? If we don’t do anything about it, why does it matter? So I watch Hotel Rwanda and I feel helpless, how can we help? What is our response as Christians?

Perhaps the greatest thing we should be doing is praying for the Peace of Christ to reign. If Jesus is the Prince of Peace than we need to pray that He will dwell on earth, in the midst of conflict. I may be helpless, but my God is not! So with all of these thoughts in my mind, I begin to think about the conflict in Lebanon. I have decided that I am sick to death of anyone who says that Israel is God’s people, and that they (Israel) has the right to do whatever they want. Dana was telling me about a 7 year old boy living here in Appleby Drive. He had to move here from Lebanon because a bomb was thrown into their living room. These are not the actions of a child of the Prince of Peace. It is terrorism, it is wrong, it is sinful, and evil. Enough with the rhetoric of war, enough with the justifying the terrorism of Israel with end time prophecies. Instead love, instead let peace reign. We shouldn’t be waiting for the Kingdom of God to come down on some cloud, we should be creating the Kingdom of God NOW!! Forget one day turning our swords into plowshares, and start doing it now!!

So this has been the primary thought in my head. But I have also really been enjoying the Spanish people, going to their church, helping them learn English. It is so awesome, so fun!!! We as a team are having a BLAST! And we are looking forward to seeing what happens as the week continues to pick up! Hard to believe we are over half done!! Well it’s time to go and have our butts whooped by a bunch of Colombian soccer superstars.

My Guilty Pleasure

So I have to say that for the last while I have been watching Rockstar Supernova online. And after much thinking I have to say I've chosen the guy I want to win. So here it is, Ryan Star I hope you win. If you guys want to know why I've chosen him click here and watch his performance of Losing my Religion by REM. Man this guy can sing!!

So here I am back in the office for one more day and then it is off to S'toon for a week with eight youth and my beautiful wife. Things I'm looking forward too?
Meeting Dan King and hanging out with Dana Barrand for a week. Yup! It's going be uber sweet!

So looking back on last week at St. Laurent... It was really good I had an awesome time, but I just don't have time or words to describe it, so here are some pictures, or a few thousand word essays if you will...

Some More thoughts on Lebanon

I was planning to write a few thoughts today about Donald Miller’s book Searching For God Knows What. But in the last two days I have found some interesting thoughts on the whole Lebanon/Israel war.
The first comes from the Relevant Magazine Podcast (7.28.06). In it a expert on the Middle East named David Brog, talks about how Israel is fighting against the Hezbollah and how they are supported by Iran. If I got him right he was basically saying we need to go into Iran and take them out before they nuke us…. I would recommend you take a listen to it, since I can’t summarize all he said so you can go to itunes or the Relevant site and download it and take a listen.

The other thing I just read was a great article by Penny Carothers (Those of you who have read any Donald Miller will know who she is). I think that what she has to say is really good and worth checking out (to read article click here)

Finally some interesting numbers to think about
2 kidnapped Israeli soldiers has resulted in:The deaths of:55 Israelis
8 Canadians
750 Lebanese
4 UN officialsNot to mention the destruction of Lebanon's infrastructure.

Let us pray for peace and for our Christian brothers and sisters in Lebanon. In case you didn’t know Lebanon is 42% Christian (higher than both Canada and the USA). If there is one thing clear it is that nothing is clear.

Christian Kitsch

So here are some great (I use this word very sarcastically) products from the International Christian Retail Show. Man I hate it when Christians market rip off crap like this. Thanks to Duel Like Real Men for the pictures.

Postmodernity and Globalization

It's decided! I will be teaching the book of Colossians in November. So as part of my class prep I have started reading Colossians Remixed. Man! What an awesome first chapter. I think that the authors have done a great job of setting up the context that we live in today.
On the one hand we have postmodernity that is, "Permeated by a deep sense of betrayal. Someone has told them a story, spun them a line, about the good life, and it has proved to be a lie." Basically postmoderinity is about the rejection of the metanarritive (the larger story) that was give to us by the Modern movement starting with the enlightenment...

But on the other hand we have globalization. It doesn't matter where you go in the world there is Coca-Cola, McDonalds, and Levi's. Despite the celebration of diversity that postmodernism claims, we aren't that different. We listen to music put out by major record companies (and anyone who thinks the Sufjan Stevens or Death Cab For Cutie isn't part of this you're just kidding yourself) and watch the same images on TV.

When you think about it Globalization is essentially the repackaging of the modern mettanaritve of progress. Wired Magazine said this "We are watching the beginnings of a global economic boom on a scale never experienced before. We have entered a period of sustained growth that could eventually double the world's economy every twelve years and bring prosperity for - quite literally - billions of people on the planet. We are riding the early waves of a 25 year run of a greatly expanding economy that will do much to solve seemingly intractable problems like poverty and to ease tensions throughout the world. And we will do it without blowing the lid off the environment.*" So our "progress" in the economics is supposed bring world peace and eradicate poverty.... sound familiar??
I just found it fascinating how our culture has rejected the Modern story and then let it back in through the back door without noticing. Anyway just some thoughts for today....


*Peter Schwartz and Peter Leyden, "The Long Boom," Wired, July 1997, p. 116.

Some Stats

While I was at the cottage this summer I read the MacLean’s July 1st 2006 article "How Canadian are you??" There are some very interesting stats that I thought I'd share with you today.

Approve of premarital sex? Age 18-35 80%
Approval of homosexuality? Men 61% Women 70%
Homosexual Marriage Men 39% Women 56%

49% of Canadian women favour banning the distribution of porn altogether (1/3 of men)

Canadians vs. USA
Homosexual relations Canada 60% USA 38%
Premarital sex 80% 64%
Legal abortions on demand 43% 27%
Immigration 78% 64%

What do we value?
Freedom 90%
Family Life 83% (6 out of 10 Canadians believe mom dad and kids is the ideal model)
Being Loved 82%
Being Canadian 62%
A Rewarding Career 51%
Community Involvement 15%


43% of Canadians have attended a religious service in the past six months not counting weddings funerals or holidays

How many protestants and Catholics go to church once a month or more
1975 41%
2000 30%
2005 34%

Believe in heaven 62%
Believe in Hell 48%

What brings us together?
Percentage of Canadians involved in:
Religious groups 30%
Sports or recreation 29%
School or community 17%
Political party or group 5%

Who do we feel uneasy around?
Sex offenders 96%
Alcoholics 71%
Former Mental Patients 63%
Born Again Christians 31%
Policemen 24%
Muslims 18%
Jews 5%

The Number of Canadians who believe:
Jesus is the Son of God 66%
Angels Exist 62%
I personally have experienced an event before it happened 52%
God cares about me personally 65%
We can have contact with the spirit world 46%

84% of Canadians identify with a religion or religious group. We attend services less often than Americans, but more frequently than Europeans.

57% of Canadians believe is ESP and 55% in Psychic powers. A third believe we can communicate with the dead.

Mac vs PC

So Jared introduced me to these sweet and very funny commercials (view here) about how Macs are better than PC (which I would agree with). Well like everything on the web there are now spoofs of these commercials. Very funny. If you haven't seen the originals check those out first. And if you have sensitive ears (aka you want to avoid any profanity) stop watching when it says version 1.3.

How It SHOULD Have Ended

So have you ever just watched a movie and at the end you were like, "Man that was the worst ending ever!" Well here is the answer How it Should Have Ended is a website that has created some great new endings to some great movies. Here are some of the best.

Lord Of The Rings


Braveheart


Matrix Revolutions


Willy Wonka


Saving Private Ryan (this ones really good)


How To Survive an Alien Attack (This is REALLY good)


Star Wars

The Middle East???

So Niki and I don't get any reception on our TV so I haven't watched the news in quite a while... But I find this whole Lebanon/Israel thing rather interesting. Now normally I stay away from the world of politics, especially since I have to admit that I am fairly ignorant. But I found this interesting scene in Robert Ludlum's book The Icarus Agenda. Now it is a fictional book, but it does look at both sides of the Israel/Palestine conflict.

The first comment I found interesting was, "Terrorists aren't born they are raised." We've seen the Palestinians commit suicide bombings, and then Israel respond with incredible brutality. On both sides there are children who have seen their parents murdered right in front of them, ripped away in an instant. And what happens to these children? They grow up nursing a hate of those who hurt them and their family. In essence they are raised to become terrorists (At this point I would like to say that I believe what Israel is doing now is very much a terrorist act). When a child is born they are not immediately a terrorist or a soldier, but they are taught to hate and fear.

Listen to this excerpt from Ludlum's book.
"They want to escalate, always escalate, always pointing to an adversary who himself has escalated to the top of his economic and technological ladder. Where the hell do we stop? Where do they stop? When do we stop giving our children nightmares because all they hear is the G**D*** promise of annihilation? When do their kids stop hearing it? Or do we just keep going up in this elevator designed in hell until we can’t come down any longer, which won't make much difference anyway because all the streets outside will be in flames."

It seems like what our world needs is some common sense. We need to see the human on the other side, to walk in their shoes, to see how our actions hurt others, to love our neighbor. We live in this culture of fear. There is some enemy that wants to come and take over our country and if we don't protect ourselves we will all be killed. So we teach our children about the monster on the other side of the wall, the Arab becomes the bad guy, because he’s an Arab. Israel becomes a land grabbing monster. And we continue to escalate until... what?? Until we all annihilate ourselves? Perhaps I over simplify things, but it is sure what it looks like to me. We raise our children in a culture of fear and they will continue to carry on this cycle of buying more weapons so that we can be safe. It is a culture of fear that makes us consume..... hmmm that reminds be of something Marilyn Manson said in Bowling for Columbine "You're watching television, you're watching the news, you're being pumped full of fear, there's floods, there's AIDS, there's murder, cut to commercial, buy the Acura, buy the Colgate, if you have bad breath they're not going to talk to you, if you have pimples, the girl's not going to f#@% you, and it's just this campaign of fear, and consumption, and that's what I think it's all based on, the whole idea of 'keep everyone afraid, and they'll consume."
Here’s a little video that shows what I mean…

You Can Call Me Professor

So this sweet little opportunity has come my way, and I'm super pumped for it!! Winkler Bible Camp runs a year long program called Cross Current which is sort of a discipleship/Bible school program (Students who attend here will get almost a years worth of credits from SBC) part of this program is classes that are taught by a variety of SBC profs as well as pastors from around the area. Well last winter I phoned them up and said, "Hi, I'm not experienced at this, but I would love to try my hand at teaching." Well I just got the word that I am on for November! That's right this young punk is now going to be teaching in a postsecondary setting! Needless to say, I'm very thankful to WBC for giving me a shot. I have been very fortunate in my life that there are places like WBC, Bethany, and the church I'm in now that are willing to take a risk and let a young inexperienced person take some leadership. So the scoop is basically this, I'm going to be teaching a four day class two and a half hours a day in November. The topic is pretty much wide open. I can do Church History, Practical Theology, or any book from the NT or OT. So I'm going to have to sit down for a bit here and decide what I'm going to do and then begin the class prep... so if you guys feel like praying for me that would be awesome.

I'm Back!! Did you miss me?

So here I am, back in the office. It was a very nice relaxing week off after conference. Niki and I went to Niagara falls for a night, stayed in a trashy hotel (but only a 10 minute walk from the falls) and then went out to my grandma's cottage for a week. We had planned on staying a little longer, but we started to miss our house and our own bed, so we packed up and drove home. I’m sure pictures will follow either on my blog or Niki’s.

This morning I came in too a flood of emails (mostly not important) and the realization that we are leaving for St. Laurent in two weeks. So much to do… but I'm really looking forward to it. I have to say though, one of the best parts about being in the office is the air conditioning. Yesterday was SO hot in our house! I would have gotten into the car and driven around for a few hours... but on the way to Ontario we sort of discovered that the AC in our car doesn't work... so it's nice to come to office and put on a sweatshirt and parka and work. One of the other things I've done is catch up on some friends lives. And I caught this request from Betty, so here you are Betty, the prayer scene from Talladega Nights: The ballad of Ricky Bobby:

Ontario

So here we are, day three in Ontario... or day four I guess, It's a little after midnight and I'm chilling in our hotel room. Niki has already gone to sleep, but I'm just not at all tired. I guess it all started when we drove here on Monday. I was so wired in the car that I probably only slept for three or four hours. The rest of the time I was wide awake and driving (20 some hours). I don't think I've ever spent so much time behind the wheel, but he what can I say, I wasn't tired so we just drove. It's nice being here and sort of being away from work and all that... but having said that I was so relieved to find out that we have internet in our room. I was starting to go banana’s without some blogging and email. WHEW!! I had no idea I was so addicted.

Conference is interesting. The EMMC conference is much more diverse than I thought and there is a wide variety of people. So the people are cool, but I'm not a big fan of meetings so the thought of two more days of sitting listening to people talk doesn't interest me at all, but I'll put on a bold face and hopefully it will be better than I'm thinking it will be. The speaker that we have is interesting and he certainly speaks with a passion that comes out of a great love for God. I'm looking forward to what I can learn from him this weekend.

Well I should probably shut this down and get some sleep. But before I go here's a sweet little song I saw on Much Music yesterday. It's basically about a boy and his dad. I thought it was nice and light, a real change to some of the heavy “My dad was an idiot and I hate him” (See Three Day’s Grace) type of music out there. So take a listen to Nizlopi's - JCB Song.

Brad!!!

Ok so I was over at Brad's Blog and there was this SWEET picture of him!!! Man Brad you're looking good, kinda a Jesus/Rob Zombie look. Anyway for all ya Bethany people check out the Martyr in Training.






Just for some Bethany Nostalgia here’s a pic of when we won the Alumni Cup!
Me (Left and yes all the Sexy hair is real) Koehn (Center) and Kevin (Right).

Grad and World Cup!

Yesterday afternoon was Miller Grad. It was alright. It was really cool to see so many of our youth graduate. I was also really impressive how many of them received rewards and graduated with distinction. Pretty smart group of grads. But I had a few questions at the end of grad. Like, how can you receive a good grade in a roof framing course? Or mechanics, and construction? Why don't they just teach math, science, English, and then let those guys hit the work force after grade 9 or 10? Surely you would get a better education if we you could just get an apprenticeship at 15. Seems a little sketchy to me. But hey I'm no teacher.

Niki and I… ok let me revise that I tried to play "Spot the flask" but it looked like Altona was a little more conservative than Hudson Bay. For those of you who aren't familiar with this great grad game. Every year at the Hudson Bay grad you can spot the flask of "spirit" being passed around. It is pretty amazing how much it moves! It is an entertaining way of passing the time when the speeches get a little long. Oh well, I guess it's a good thing that it doesn't happen here. I just wish grad was a little more.... entertaining. You know people falling down, saying the wrong names, really anything but the formal stuff. I guess it must just be I don't like formality.

It was a great grad, Richelle (On the Right) did a great job of the valedictorian address. And I'm glad we were able to go. If you want a deeper thought from grad go over to Ben’s blog. But the thing I brought away from grad was this great new quote (It was on the cover of the program and now is my description of my blog)

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." Dr. Seuss

World Cup is progressing along nicely. I have to say I'm really hoping for and England Brazil semi final game. I’m also hoping to see Ukraine beat Italy. Ok I’ll put it out there… I’m not predicting anything, just saying what I would like. I’d love to see England and Ukraine in the final… but that’s just me.

To Go with the Last Post

Just in case you were wondering, Tide does NOT make your Whites clean again, but Jesus can clean your soul!!

This is me (Below). Man I don't think I have EVER been that dirty in my life, and I have a real gift for getting dirt all over my clothes.

Rough Draft... Done!

Hey there, it seems like ages since I've actually written anything, but now that I have the rough draft of my sermon done I think I have a few minutes to write. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words so I'll throw some pictures up of what we've been doing lately.

Last Wednesday was our Mudfest Round II. It was our last youth event for the summer, and really I think it is every kids fantasy come true. A big pit of mud for you to run around in and throw at people. Man what an awesome idea!! I just wish that I could take the credit for thinking of it. Just for the record, mud in the eye really hurts, and it is super hard to get out of your ears.




(Before. oh so clean!!!)










(After)













Saturday was sweet Niki did a great job of surprising me for my birthday, and I loved my presents.

Dale you will appreciate these. My own coffee grinder and press. mmmmm super fresh coffee :D


Last night we had a grad party for all our grade twelve’s. A couple in our church has this beautiful backyard with a pool, so we went swimming and ate pizza (not always the best combination) but it was wonderful and the water was really nice and warm. I even did a flip off of the diving board... well sort of a flip... pretty is not a word you would use to describe it, but whatever.

Birthday and Vintage 21

Sorry It seems like I just don't have time to blog. Maybe it is because summer creates opportunities that are so much more worth while than blogging... like Golf!! Went twice in two days... what a great way to spend a few hours. So my Birthday was awesome. Niki did a great job of surprising me with a scavenger hunt in St. Vital Mall. Pictures of the loot... I mean presents to arrive soon. For more info on the day check out Niki's blog Unfortunately I just don't have time for a full update, so here are some funny if slightly sacrilegious videos. "In the Spring of 2003 Vintage21 had a four week series on Jesus Christ, taking a deep look at what he said and did. It was difficult at times to get past our preconceived notions that had been developed by staunch, starched Sunday School Classes of old. This is a satirical look at what some people think Jesus is like. Thank goodness He's Not."

Trunk Monkey 2/6

Trunk Monkey 1/6

3-1!!!!!!

Well I gotta say it.... YES!!!!!!! If only I could have watched the game last night, I would have loved to rub it in.... But like all good things there is a downside. The thing that really ticks me off is this: Today on the radio the Edmonton fans are like, "Man this is the first time since 93 that we have come close to bringing the cup back to Canada." Do Edmonton fans even watch hockey!!?? Two years ago the Flames nearly beat the Lightning, and they were a whole lot closer to winning that Edmonton ever was.... oh well what can you do, I guess you can't expect too much from a Oilers fan. Well now we get a month and half off before it all starts again and we get to watch Calgary bring the cup back to Canada.

Oh the bane of my existence

Organization, I can't do it!! But you just can't live without it. Now you see the problem with being disorganized is that every once in a while (say 2ish months) everything catches up to you. All of a sudden you realize you preach in two weeks, you are leaving for conference/holidays in two weeks, and you still have a ton of other stuff to do first. Oops! The result is a day or two of stress, and hard work, and then, whew your free! … hopefully… All that said a few days ago I said I was going to make an effort to organize my day to day life better, so far that has been working pretty well, so maybe I'll learn to avoided this in the future. Well this has to be a short one, but I’ll get back into the blogging world in a few days.

Summer Shock Syndrome

I had a great evening last night. We went to the Rosenort EMC church for a praise and worship night led by Cody. I was really looking forward to some great music and a evening of worshiping God, and I wasn't disappointed. I thought that it was a wonderful evening of music and speaking. PLUS I got to hang out with Cody, B.T, Trevor, and Rebekah., and the newly married Stefan Krahn. So needless to say it was a Bethany Reunion. It was like taking a deep drink from a cold spring! It was just what I needed.

For this event we invited both our Jr. and Sr. Youth to come out for the evening. Over winter we had a combined group of close to 85 regular attendees. So I booked the bus and spent the day worrying that we wouldn't all fit. I knew that there was no way we would have everyone, but I thought at least 40. Well time rolls around for us to leave and we are 24 including leaders... Now I don't want it to sound like I'm playing any numbers games. I'm just saying, WOW! things change in the summer! Baseball, swimming, hanging out with friends… and I’m left with Summer Shock Syndrome! I think I might understand why some youth programs close down for the summer. So uhhh... you other youth pastors who read this, anything else I should know going into the summer?

Anyway I should get going I have a few things to do, and then I'm taking one of the youth out golfing... if it doesn't rain. So if you read this before three you can pray that God will heal my slice and maybe allow me to connect with the ball a little.

And now for something completely different:

Still A Dreamer

So one of my youth (Erin Ginter) read my blog and passed on a lead to another great bike. This one is a 1991 KAWASAKI EX 500. Not only is the bike a $1000 cheaper. I could also save about $400 on licensing it. I can't wait until lunch when I can tell Niki all about it.... and then she rolls her eyes and says, "Oh Nathan"

Bradley Hathaway

So when my sister was down she had a CD by the poet Bradley Hathaway. Lately I've been listening to it and really enjoying it. Sometimes he says things and I just laugh because I can't believe that he is so.... honest? yeah maybe that's the word. Anyway this is one of my favs. So if you have a few minutes and sit back and enjoy

MANLY MAN (If You Don't want to read it click here instead.)

I don’t want my long hair, pretty green eyes, with ( no! I do not have on mascara. ) eyelashes, skinny figure, undersized t-shirt, hip shake too much when I walk confuse anybody. I am a manly man. Within this sissy frame, obviously rib laden chest lies a heart that beats to the drum of a native American ritual dancing wildness. It pumps an ever cascading supply of untamedness that a herd of wild mustangs have yet to grasp. If danger lurks about, I will seek it out. If adventure abounds, there I will be found. If a damsel be in distress, I will show her who is best. I am a manly man. Because I don’t flush, and I leave the lid up. I drive a 1988 Ford Pick-up truck. Girls don’t break up with me, I break up with them first. ( Except the last time, it didn’t really work out like that… ) I don’t shave the hair on my face ( Because I still can’t grow facial hair yet… ) But when I can, I won’t, because beards are tough. I fart, burp, and spit when I want, not caring who’s nearby. Disrespect my momma, and I will punch you in the eye. I am a manly man. Or am I? I tell my guy friends that I love ‘em. And sometimes, sometimes I even hug ‘em. Not because I’m gay, but because I love ‘em. And when I watched Bambi, I cried. And when my Mema gets mad, I still run and hide. Like David, I wanna be a man after God’s own heart. And I’m not there yet, but I’m past the start. And when people talk, I try to listen. A spirit of compassion, that’s my vision. Surely I am a manly man. I want to be loved and have love and give love. And not just that romantic kind either. Although I am looking for that beauty. Not helpless, but wants to be rescued. The damsel in distress, man, woman, myth, true. I will fight for her, climb the highest tower for her, love her, share with her, delight in her, be her warrior, her protector. She will be my crown and I will be hers. My masculinity will be passed down and affirmed to my sons. And each of my daughters will know they are lovely, and deserving of authentic romance. Society tells me all day long that I’ve defined manhood completely wrong. But you ask any honest man, and he will agree. You ask any honest woman, and she too will see, that I am a manly man.

Dreams

So the other day I had this dream. I was flying along the highway on this super sweet bike. It was just like I was flying. When I woke up, I realized that I need a motorbike. Now I'll admit that I've never been much of a bike guy. I had a nasty experience when I was younger involving a dirt bike, a bush, and ten feet of air. But during my second year at Bethany I got to go for a ride on our RD's (Rich Friesen) Bike. It was SO cold but one of the greatest things that I ever got to do. It was like flying! So anyway this really smart guy I know (Jon Hamm) once said (and I paraphrase) that it is ridiculous to just talk about learning something new you should just do it. Now granted he was talking about skateboarding (something I have tried and failed at) which is a little cheaper than a bike, but I think that the principle is the same. So I did some checking and I found this sweet 1991 KAWASAKI ZX6 NINJA (the one I found is black, but other than that looks like the pic) for $3,500 so if anyone feels like donating to the Make Nathan's Dreams Come True Trust Fund! Give me and shout and we can work out the details. Otherwise this might be one of those dreams that I have to keep holding on too... like getting a dog (I still haven't given up on that either).

On another note, I've decided to become more scheduled. My new plan is to lay out my days in a attempt to become A) More organized and B) More productive. I'll let you know how this plan goes...

Monday Morning

So here are the results of my last poll. "Would you rather eat the same thing every day or lose an eye?" The answer is:
67% Would Eat the Same thing every Day
33% Would Lose an eye.

I heard this interesting story on CBC today about the Bilderberg group. You know that conspiracy theory about the small group of men who actually rule the world? Well this is the group. Kind of interesting. I love a good conspiracy theory. Anyway they just met in Canada and decided what to do about… well whatever people who rule the world decide.

Has anyone ever read The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts? I was checking out some stuff and found this book and it looked pretty interesting, but I was wondering if anyone has read it? And since I'm on a bit of a kick of putting movies on my blog here's another one. The guy is Matisyahu. He's a Hasidic Jew who has sort of a rap/reggae thing going on. It's pretty sweet so enjoy "King Without a Crown"

Left Behind: External Forces

So a few months ago I talked about the new Left Behind video game. Well there is a new article out about it called Jesus Loves A Machine Gun. I gotta say, I think this game has more than a few problems...