A Great Day

So yesterday was such an awesome day!!! Especially since it started with my cleaning up tons of dog crap all over the breeze way (another story). I had breakfast with Jayson and Mark (always a highlight of my month). It is great to hang out with other youth pastors and talk about what is going on. To make a already great tradition even better Mark announced his engagement and bought us breakfast! So I came into the office very happy.

A few hours later Marv came in and told me that the Church board has given me the ok to go to the National Youth Workers Convention in Charlotte NC at the end of November!!! I'm going down with a bunch of people from Winkler. I am so excited to be surrounded by so many awesome leaders!! I'm going to be catching some workshops with Doug Fields, Kurt Johnston, Mark Oestreicher, Philip Yancey, and SO many more. Originally I had thought that Donald Miller was going to be there too, but now I see he is only there for a few of the other NYWC's. Now I should say that this is really good news, and sad news. The good side is... well it's five days with thousands of youth leaders from all over!! The sad part is that it is five days away from the person I love most in the world.

And speaking of Niki, yesterday she also gave me the permission I have been waiting for!!! My ipod mini is now in the mail!!! It's a 4 GB from the Apple Canada store. $119 with all taxes and shipping!!! I am so excited for it to get here!!!

What I've been thinking about lately

So here’s what I’ve been thinking about lately. I can’t say that it all started with this, but it certainly got me really thinking. We as a staff spent the last two weeks at our staff meeting discussing the Chapter The Seven Jesuses I Have Known by Brian McLaren in his book Generous Orthodoxy. For background he sets out that he has met 7 different views of Jesus they are the:
1) Conservative Protestant Jesus
2) The Pentecostal/Charismatic Jesus
3) The Roman Catholic Jesus
4) The Eastern Orthodox Jesus
5) Liberal Protestant Jesus
6) The Anabaptist Jesus
7) The Jesus of the Oppressed (Liberation Theology)

Now here’s the thing, each one of these theologies (ways of thinking about God) have validity, they are true and there are things to learn from each one. Which brings up the question, How big is my God? Is God big enough that we can all be right, and all be wrong? My thinking right now goes something like this.

If I can fit God into my Mennonite Anabaptist theology, than that cannot be God! It is not big enough, not awe-inspiring enough, it is just a god, that I have made up, like a golden calf. However, if God is so big that Roman Catholics Liberal Protestants, and Right Wing Conservatives can all be right, then I think we are starting to find a true image of who God is. Pastor Gary shared this quote from a Texan pastor on Sunday said something to the effect that. “The thing that brings unity is not a common purpose or vision, but rather that we are all involved in a common argument.” So what if, the thing that unites us as Catholic, Orthodox, Anabaptist, Liberal is that we are all involved in a common argument/discussion on the best way to live out the gospel. We are united in that we all want to live out the life of Jesus, as we understand it. In this context theology, and thesis’ and books on theology all of significance and value. Because we are coming together and asking why do we believe this? What are they doing right? The Anabaptist comes and lays out their beliefs for why we are not part of the kingdoms of this world, and why we should not give allegiance to our countries, why war is wrong and how to live in this third way. The Liberal Protestant teaches us that we must live out the meaning of the miracles of Christ, building hospitals to heal those with aids, building schools so that people who are intellectually blind can see, the Charismatic Christian teaches us the power that the Holy Spirit still has and how He is still actually healing people. Can two separate sides of the women in ministry We do this because we are interested in understanding the best way to live out Jesus to the world. We don’t all agree, but we are open and understand that Jesus is bigger than my walls, my ideas, my theology.

I wonder if we viewed God like this if it would be possible for a homosexual Liberal Protestant Christian to sit with greedy Conservative Protestant Christian and for them to actually discus together the best way to live Jesus. It is not about trying to win the argument, but about discerning how best to live Jesus. Now I guess I have qualify that last statement. I’m not condoning sin, but both those who hoard wealth and those who live in sexual sin, are not living the best they can for Jesus, but perhaps they can find common ground in trying to find out what that best way is. Hopefully through this dialogue both sides would see that they are wrong. But it is not about picketing places and yelling and screaming, instead it is about discovery, trying to learn the best way to live.

I guess it comes down to, how big is my God? And, how big is my theology? Can I have a generous Orthodoxy? Or must I stay within the walls of my specific theology? So now I will practice my Anabaptist tradition. What do you think? As my community, what are the things I’m missing? Does this ring true? Or am I doomed?

V For Vendetta

Last night was Pizza and a Movie night at our house. I think that Niki and I will have to institute that as a more common occurrence in our house. It was a lot of fun to eat some great greasy pizza and watch a movie.

The movie we watched was V for Vendetta. Now I realize that I am WAY behind in my movie watching, and that most people in the world have already given their two cents about what they thought. But this isn't everyone else's blog, it's mine, so I can do what I want. Now I'm not sure that I can recommend it (due to some graphic violence) but I thought it was a fantastic movie. It also leaves you in no doubt about how the Wachowski brothers (Makers of the Matrix) feel about the Bush government. For those of you who haven’t seen the movie the basic premise is that the world is full of terrorists and horrible dieses, and so the people give up their freedom for protection. The government then becomes a government of the sort you read about in Orwell’s 1984. Now the interesting thing is that in this movie the government is clearly supposed to be Right Wing Conservatives. Their motto is "Strength through Unity, Unity through Faith." They even have a "religious" commentator who is the "Voice of England" who supports the government (Pat Robertson perhaps??). But the Warchowski brothers don't leave it there. They also draw some pretty clear lines connecting this Right Wing government to the Nazi's. Taking homosexuals and others and running inhuman tests on them, breaking into houses and night to take people away, the Chancellor standing holding up his arm as an army marches past. And through all of it I sat there and thought to myself, you know their not that far off. It doesn't take that big of a jump for a government to go from good to bad. As soon as we start to allow fear to rule, and we ask people to take over for us we will always end up in trouble. This quote stuck in my mind after the movie,

"People willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both." -Benjamin Franklin

With all the recent school shootings, wars around the world, mad cow, aids, etc. it is very easy for us to run to our government begging for safety, but it seems like the writer of V for Vendetta had a few thoughts about where that will get us.
So, what do you think? Have you seen the movie? What were your thoughts about it?

Gloria in Profundis

There has fallen on earth for a token A god too great for the sky. He has burst out of all things and broken The bounds of eternity: Into time and the terminal land He has strayed like a thief or a lover, For the wine of the world brims over, Its splendour is spilt on the sand.

Who is proud when the heavens are humble,
Who mounts if the mountains fall,
If the fixed stars topple and tumble
And a deluge of love drowns all—
Who rears up his head for a crown,
Who holds up his will for a warrant,
Who strives with the starry torrent,
When all that is good goes down?

For in dread of such falling and failing
The fallen angels fell
Inverted in insolence, scaling
The hanging mountain of hell:
But unmeasured of plummet and rod
Too deep for their sight to scan,
Outrushing the fall of man
Is the height of the fall of God.

Glory to God in the Lowest
the spout of the stars in spate—
Where the thunderbolt thinks to be slowest
And the lightning fears to be late:
As men dive for a sunken gem
Pursuing, we hunt and hound it,
The fallen star that has found it
In the cavern of Bethlehem.

This is my favorite poem ever! It was written by G.K Chesterton in 1927

Kutless, Jazz, and the Opera

So I have to say that the last few weeks have been great for concerts and such. First there was the Underoath show (which was incredible) and then on Friday we took the youth to see Kutless... well we took the youth to see Kutless, but I went to see Stereotrap (which I missed because we were late). And then on Sunday night Niki and I went with the churches college and career to see Blue Like Jazz Live! The Kutless concert was... ok, after seeing Underoath and Moneen... well let's just say that Kutless isn't quite on the same level. But it was fun Dwight and I took the role of old guys in the pit! It was fun to jump and scream my head around like I was cool or something.... I decided that if I was in a band then I could actually be cool. So my goal for the rest of my life... Find some people to be in a band with me... so we can act like idiots for the rest of our lives.

But the show I was REALLY looking forward to was Blue Like Jazz Live. It is a one man show that acts out Donald Miller's Book Blue Like Jazz (obviously). Anyway it was AWESOME! We had front row seats so we could catch everything. It was funny, deep, and thought provoking (everything that Miller's book is) I have to say if you ever have the chance you need to see this show, go with some friends and then go for a drink of your choice and talk about it. And if you never get the chance to see it... I bought the DVD and while it is not AS good, it is pretty sweet!

Now as if this weren't enough there is more. On Saturday Niki and I are going to see the Phantom of the Opera. In Niki's post Skittles, Alf, and Ecclesiastes she talks about "dates in the city that cost a lot but are sponsored by a third party" Well that is this date (Thanks Steve and Diane). I really can't wait for it. I have loved the music from this score for YEARS, and I have always wanted to see it, and now I will!!!

So on a completely different note. I had been planning this SWEET surprise for Niki. I was going to fly her best friend out from Saskatchewan pick her up at the airport and then bring her into the house and Niki was going to be shocked and so happy! Well Marsha and I had been emailing and Niki sometimes checks my email at work so I told her she couldn't look at it. When she asked why I replied with the classic "Don't worry about it." Instead of leaving it and not worrying about it like I asked her she starts to think about it which makes her all suspicious and upset... did I mention she was upset? Well I accidentally let her see that Marsha and I had emailed (rookie mistake... gosh!! I'm better than that!) anyway she spent all of Sunday night just ticked at me because she thought I was... I don't know... cheating on her!?? Eventually she cornered me and I had no choice, but to let her know... *sigh* It took me two years to think of something this good. Now I have to go back to the drawing board. If any of you guys have some tips on how to lie to your wife I'm more than willing to take some advice at this point, because it just doesn't seem like anything works. I just hope Marsha will still come out.

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.

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.