I received a sweet compliment the other day that ranks close to the top of my list of best compliments ever received! And I was given by my local garbage man no less!
(put on Jack Johnson's "The 3 R's" before you read on - an appropriate soundtrack for this post)
It just so happens that the owner's of Summerland Sanitation Service go to our church and attend our care group. All of their employees go to to our church and attend our care group. No, we don't have a big care group - they only have one employee and there are only two owners so we are talking three guys and their wives.
Anyway, they started a recycling pickup service about a month ago. This has excited me more in the last few months than anything has! Really. I've always wanted to live in a town that has a recycling pickup service. And since the service has begun, I have bought blue recycling bags, sorted my plastics from the paper and tin, and bundled up my cardboard in a neat pile. When they come around, every other Thursday, I have it neatly piled by the road - just like they asked. Now we are down to one and a half bags of garbage per week. If we start composting in the summer, like I hope to, we could be down to half a bag of garbage. If there was a diaper pickup service, then, we'd have almost no garbage.
Oh, back to the compliment. . . So we were talking about the new pickup service when I asked it I was doing it right. The pickup dude laughed and said "man, you have the neatest most organized recycle pile in town!" And he was serious.
So now I can go to sleep knowing that nobody recycles better than me!
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Young Love
So I am supposed to be working on a talk that I am giving my Jr. High youth tonight. In the spirit of procrastination, I thought I'd rather blog about the process rather than carry it out. Tonight's topic and theme is dating . . .
I really just want to tell them they are too young but somehow I need to stretch that into a 15 minute talk. That is the hard part. I guess I could repeat "you are too young to date" over and over for 15 minutes. I could talk about the statistics, maybe. Like 51% of teen marriages end in divorce before the age of 24 (National Center for Health Statistics). But statistics usually only discourage people. So those ideas are probably no good.
Ah well. I'll come up with something. I just wonder if I'll believe the same things and feel the same way about Jr. Highs and relationship issues when my boys are in Jr. High.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
SAC Happiness
SAC stands for Summerland Alliance Church and Happiness stands for happiness.
There are a lot of cool things happening within our church family these days.
I haven't mentioned anything about it here yet but I have an intern working for me. He started in January and is around until the end of April. He's a guy that was in my youth group when we first started serving here. He is in his third year at Briercrest Bible College. And he is a close personal friend.
This internship is a really great thing. He's not sure what kind of ministry heading he's going to take but he sure has options. He is great with kids and young people so it's awesome to have help with our youth ministry. He's developing into a good worship leader and it has been my pleasure to have him play and sing with me and a pleasure for me to play, sing and worship under his leadership. He's passionate about drama and is getting our church family passionate about it too. And he's great with seniors. I believe he was going to learn to knit this afternoon as a matter of fact.
Anyhow, he preached in our service today. His first sermon ever in front of a church congregation. He did really well. I never grew up hearing the phrase "good word" but I heard it many time today: "David, that was a good word!" "David, thanks for that good word." Anyway. I was proud of him. He sure made me think and that kinda ticks me off cause I know I have some changes to make in my life. This is, however, how I know the Spirit used David to speak to me.
And speaking of our service and "first ever's", I conducted my first baby dedication today. I have to admit it was fun. I did put quite a bit of effort into preparation, practically rewriting the pastor's handbook, but that was a pleasure cause the son I dedicated was the son of friends. Very special.
Another cool thing is that we axed our 4-year-old prelude. Yeah, we do anywhere from 7 to 10 songs in a service. I think that is more than average. I mean, doing a 3 or 4 song prelude has been cool but practicing 10 songs in a short amount of time is hard even for pro musicians. Now we do 6 songs which allows us to do more than just make sure we know how to play the songs. We can actually work towards a great tight sound and be creative within it. I'm enjoying music and leading worship a little more now.
I was at a PK (Promise Keepers) breakfast yesterday. I only went because a friend of mine was going to go. I didn't really want to go but I did. It was interesting. The major thrust of the discussion was on "the call of God" or rather "what the heck am I supposed to do with my life?" I weighed in on this one more so than usual. I am usually the youngest one at these things (that was until David, my intern, came along) and so I approach life, God, faith, church etc. rather differently than these men. I usually keep my mouth shut. Not so yesterday. Rather than get into what I said, I'll just say that I was quite alone in my views on the matter of calling and deciding what we should do for careers and stuff. I put myself out there. I was thinking for the rest of the day that I should have just kept my mouth shut but two of the men approached me later to share their appreciation for what I said. I made them think, so they said, and I tell ya, it was good to hear. Anyways, my challenge has always been to work up enough courage to speak my mind/heart and I'm starting to speak up more and more, with favorable results.
I've seen a lot of people struggling with marriages lately but some are taking a positive turn and you could never know how excited I am to see it.
Angela's Caterpillar Club is doing well and she has new moms showing up every Friday. We've seen some of them in church since. I have a feeling this thing is going to grow.
There was some drama with one of my sponsors and myself about my philosophy of doing youth ministry and this actually caused me a lot of stress. I hate strained relationships like this but we're working it out and I am quite happy that we can restore our tattered friendship. I think the incident will turn out to be merely a bump in the road of our friendship.
So I felt like writing this post to kinda count my blessings. And even though I haven't said it, the goodness I see in our church family these days (there is more than I just typed) really shows that we have found favor with God. I am thankful that He is using our church to reach our community. I am thankful that we are an "alive" church family and that we are passionate about striving for holiness, reaching our community for the sake of His kingdom and seeing His kingdom come in the whole world. Yeah, to God be the glory, now and forever.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Parking Etiquette
Is there some sort of official parking etiquette established that I don't know about?
We were leaving Costco today. Packing up our car with our two kids and the groceries took us a little time. I finally got in and in my excitement to open the packaging to a cordless phone set we just bought, I noticed another car signaling for my spot. I don't know how long they had been there but it was obvious from the persistent blinking of that evil orange light that they wanted my spot and wanted it now. And this is where I need some rules. Am I obligated to vacate the space as fast as possible or are they obligated to wait till I am good and ready to leave? This is not the first time this scenario has played out and admittedly, I have lingered longer than I have needed just to assert my control over that 5'x9' space.
But really, what should a guy do? I don't like the pressure of having to leave a parking place sooner than I am ready - and as odd as it sounds, I like to get ready to drive (loose items stowed, appropriate song on the ipod, climate controls set etc.).
Once, at the mall during the pre-Christmas shopping rush, I waited in the car with a sleeping child while Angela took the other one inside to shop. In the span of 45 minutes, 9 cars signaled for my spot. One stayed for over 4 minutes before they got the hint that I was not moving! Is a parking spot that valuable that people wait so long?
In our case today, we parked some distance from the store. We don't mind walking. In fact, we prefer to park some distance which is why I was surprised at the interruption. The parking lot seemed to fill out while we were in the store making our parking stall the closest, soon to be available stall. It never ceases to amaze me how persistent people are in their attempts to get a parking space as close to the store as they can.
Anyhow, I was curious to know if I was alone in this. For me it's a case of what is the right thing to do vs. what do I want to do.
Will I linger longer next time? Will I exit promptly? I don't know.
My boyz
Mackenzie and Lukas are growin up soo fast. Just thought I'd post two recent pictures of them for no other reason than to show em off.
Valentines Bitterness
My wife doesn't need Valentines Day to know I love her. Really. Ask her. We talked about it. She knows my dislike for obligatory holidays. OK, I know valentines day isn't a holiday but if it were, I would feel obliged to take the day off and therein lies an exception to my rule: if you are obligated to buy something for someone, don't do it because everyone is doing it. If you are obligated to take the day off - do it because everyone is doing it (or rather because it is a good thing to do). But if valentines day were like all my other holidays in which I am obliged to take the day off, I would inevitably find myself doing work on that day anyways. So either way, I loose. But that is not the point of my ramblings.
I am teetering on the fence of indecision with guilt on one side and defiance on the other. I am teetering because I haven't purchased flowers, cards nor chocolates for my wife.
The other day I drove by one of our favorite bakeries (I was out of town) and I was struck with a brilliant idea - why not buy Angela a pecan sticky bun? She loves them and we usually get them on special outings. So I did. She almost cried. The point: Valentines day is not the one day to love someone. It's really a poor excuse to love someone. If you show affection on that day more than on other days, you need to pull up your socks in the romance department.
I think I've fallen off the fence and landed in the field of defiance.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Confessions in a Barber's chair
So I had a good chat with my barber today. I have two barbers that share the same shop - Peter and Bill - and today I had Peter cut my hair. I tend to go to Bill. And for good reason. About a year ago, I took Mackenzie to get a hair cut cause he was essentially wearing a mop. I was hoping to get Bill cause he cuts kids hair. Peter doesn't. Bill was not in that day but I was determined to have Mackenzie's hair cut. I kinda forcefully convinced Peter to give it a try. I am not a forceful person so this was somewhat out of character for me. It was a disaster. Peter was tense, Mackenzie was in tears, and even though hairs were cut, the "before" was definitely looking better than the "after". Peter finally gave up and sent us home without charging us. He didn't want me to pay for "work he was not proud of." Needless to say, I felt very bad for the whole mess-for Mackenzie for the trauma he experienced but mostly for Peter who was very tense and frustrated. I felt worse for Peter cause as far as I was concerned, Mackenzie needed to suck it up and accept the fact that he needs to be groomed.
Since that day, every time I walk into the shop, I feel pangs of guilt for what I put Peter through. And for that reason too, I have Bill cut my hair. I somehow came to believe that every time I walked into the shop, and Peter saw me, in his mind he was saying: "oh, not him, not the guy that pressured me into cutting his son's hair and putting me through hell".
All these thoughts were going through my head when I walked into the shop this morning. I thought that this time, I would go to Peter. I wanted to send the message that I was not upset at him for his failure to cut my sons hair and I didn't want him to think I was avoiding him cause sometimes, when I go to get a haircut, he says that Bill's not here, assuming that I want Bill to do it. And I wanted him to know that I was sorry for putting him through hell. Well, it turns out that Bill was not at the shop today and wouldn't be for some time since he was on holidays. I wasn't going to let that phase me. My hair was soo long, when I wore my toque, my silhouette resembled a 100watt light bulb. I told him I was going to stay and wait for him to be done with his current client.
As I sat down in his chair, we bantered about. The usual topics: weather, how busy we are, cars. Then the inevitable silence. We were out of things to say. I am usually fine with this silence only today, something inside me told me to talk to him about that "incident". And for some stupid reason, I listened to that voice and started out with "I don't know if you remember but about a year ago I brought my son in for a haircut . . ." I told him the whole story, ending with: "and I still feel terrible for making you go through that." And I'll be darned, Peter could not remember the fiasco. He had no recollection! You don't know the joy I felt this morning sitting in his chair, his shaver buzzing dreamily about my head!
Turns out he thought the story was funny! I told Peter that my son still hates getting his hair cut and it is not because of him but because of another "incident" with an evil lady. It also turns out that there is a place in Westbank that specializes in cutting the hairs of kids like mine! Double blessing!
So the moral of the story is, if you need a barber, and you have kids and you want to take them to the same barber, and you struggle with a guilty conscience, make sure that he has a bad memory.
Monday, January 22, 2007
The Still, Small Voice of Love
Another Nouwen Meditation:
Many voices ask for our attention. There is a voice that says, "Prove that you are a good person." Another voice says, "You'd better be ashamed of yourself." There also is a voice that says, "Nobody really cares about you," and one that says, "Be sure to become successful, popular, and powerful." But underneath all these often very noisy voices is a still, small voice that says, "You are my Beloved, my favor rests on you." That's the voice we need most of all to hear. To hear that voice, however, requires special effort; it requires solitude, silence, and a strong determination to listen.
That's what prayer is. It is listening to the voice that calls us "my Beloved."
Friday, January 19, 2007
Overcoming Life's Obstacles - Part 2
Again, if you are looking for a fluffy feel good story, look elsewhere.
I overcame an obstacle today: I made it up the T-Bar lift on a snowboard!
Yup, that's right! I made it up the T-Bar lift 4 times and I did not fall off! Coming down the mountain is another story but despite the falls, that's the easy part.
Back story: every year, I take our youth to Apex to do some night skiing on Friday nights. It is super cheap on Fridays. Anyhow, having mastered skiing (aka: I can make it down the hill without killing or injuring myself and actually enjoy it), I decided I would be "hip" and learn to snowboard. For the past two years, I never made it past the bunny hill. I tried the T-Bar but until tonight, I couldn't get 10 meters up the hill without falling. And just so you don't get the wrong idea: the fact that I used the word "hip" shows that I'll never be hip, or whatever today's equivalent of "hip" is. And when I said "for the past two years", it's not like I have been trying for two years to snowboard. In fact, I have only gone snowboarding 3 evenings out of those two years so relative to the time I have spent away from the slopes, I have picked up the skills at an alarming pace.
Tonight, on the fourth and last run, I did not fall. It was beautiful. I became one with the board and it was as if I floated down that heavenly slope. It could probably be likened to an out of body experience. I wouldn't know. I've never had one. But it was bliss.
I am on a roll with overcoming obstacles. What should I try to overcome next?
Overcoming Life's Obstacles - Part 1
If you are expecting a fluffy inspirational story, this is not it. It is, however, a story of overcoming obstacles.
The obstacle: A Rubik's cube.
That's right folks, I set my mind to the task of solving the Rubik's cube. I can now consistently solve it in under 2 minutes. It took me about a day to learn.
I'm looking around now for a good speed cube. I hope to buy one pretty soon. I want to get faster at it. It would be cool if I could solve it in 30 seconds or less.
So, if I bought a good speed cube, I'd put the one I have right now on my shelf next to my Evangecube.
Now that is not an option.
That said, if you know of anyone on this green earth who has decided to give their lives to God because of an Evangecube, please do let me know. If there is someone out there who truly has come to God because of one of those, I'll never mock out Jesus Junk again!
Friday, January 12, 2007
Ok, so I am not in bed yet . . .
You may have heard some rumors about a guy who can speed cube blindfolded. Because of my arduous poking around, I can confirm that rumor:
His name is Tyson Mao. He has held the world record at one time for speed cubing. He is the dude that taught Will Smith how to speed cube for his latest movie: The Pursuit of Happiness. (I can't wait to see it). Anyway, here is a video of him doing it blind folded: Video.
Now I get to go to bed.
What else would keep me up this late?
So normally I would be fast asleep right now. Normally. Tonight isn't normal, however.
Enter: Obsession.
Yes, that's right. I have a new obsession: learning to solve the Rubik's cube.
So I am a nerd . . .
Backstory: last night, one of my youth found a Rubik's cube in the church kitchen. Discussions ensued. Egos grew. I figured I could solve the thing by the next day. I told everyone so. They put me up to it. How could I be so stupid.
With the help of the Internet, I discovered that there are 3, 000, 000, 000 possible configurations a methods to solving the thing. I could handle maybe 2, 000, 000, 000 but not much more than that. Still, I purposed to solve it. . . with the help of my online teachers. . . .
First things first: I had to take it apart to see how it worked. Easy enough. But then I learned that if you don't put it together solved, you have a 93% chance of making the cube unsolvable. I prefer the solvable kind and so I followed those simple directions. Thus, in my hands lay a solved Rubik's cube. As fun as it would be to show my challengers a completed puzzle, I would be lying, and that is not so good for a pastor, so I told the truth.
My new intern proceeded to mess the whole thing up horribly. This became the challenge of the day.
So with the "aid" of some websites that I won't disclose, not that you couldn't find them using our friend Google, I tackled the puzzle.
I made some real progress throughout the day: numerous bathroom breaks, the drive to meet a friend (not recommended in high traffic areas), lunch with my family, etc.
Well, long story short (or rather, shorter), I got as far as I could go late this evening. Feeling dumb and defeated, I plugged my current configuration into a Rubik's Cube solver. The program found a solution before I fully released the pressure of my index finger on the left mouse button. This further heightened my humiliation. When I saw that the solution required 50 moves, I felt less dumb.
I completed the cube at 1:28am, Friday morning. It took my 100, 000 moves of the day plus the solver's 50. I am able to retain a little of my pride.
Now the real question becomes: will this obsession be laid to rest as I go to bed in the next few minutes or will it consume my every thought? We'll see what the morning brings.
In the meantime, check out this video of some dude speed cubing. I figure in a couple of days, if I dedicate my time to honing my mad skillz, I'll be giving this dude a run for his money!
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Fruit vs. Success
I don't feel I'm all that successful. Most of the time, I feel that what I do or who I am as a pastor is of little value to anyone. I know this is false but I think you can understand how easy we believe "the lies".
Well, lately, God has shown Angela and I fruit. He has shown us some things that remind us why we are in Summerland serving our church. Thank-you God.
It's funny how the goodness of those moments can end as soon as I step foot in my office - especially the first time since a nice long holiday. Well, amidst the returning feeling of "what good am I to God and the world while working here in my office", Angela sent me this:
Fruits That Grow in VulnerabilitySo right now, I am encouraged by this. At this moment, I want my life to be fruitful rather than successful. God knows I suck at trying to be in control . . .
There is a great difference between successfulness and fruitfulness. Success comes from strength, control, and respectability. A successful person has the energy to create something, to keep control over its development, and to make it available in large quantities. Success brings many rewards and often fame. Fruits, however, come from weakness and vulnerability. And fruits are unique. A child is the fruit conceived in vulnerability, community is the fruit born through shared brokenness, and intimacy is the fruit that grows through touching one another's wounds. Let's remind one another that what brings us true joy is not successfulness but fruitfulness.
Henri Nouwen: Bread for the Journey
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Goodness in remembering
Ok, so now I am thinking more about death, heaven, hell, and the soul. I was starting to think that I have never really grieved. I have never felt death that close. But then again I wonder.
The first funeral I remember was the funeral for my great grandfather - my dad's grandpa. I think we sang "Mansions Will Glisten on the Streets of Glory" at the funeral, my dad on his guitar, my sister singing, and me on the violin (note: no reference to fiddle - read the the book mentioned in the previous post). But I never new my great grandfather. No real sense of loss.
The next taste of death, and I may be messing up the orders of these chronologically, was the passing of Dr. Dave Hildebrand and his wife. Dr. Dave inspired me. He was our orchestra conductor. He encouraged me to do "special numbers" while he played the piano as my backup. He taught me how to play rook. And it is his leadership style, I think, that I mostly closely mirror more than anyone else: a tremendous musician with the gift and skill to inspire amateurs to learn to play together and make beautiful worship. His sudden death was a shock, to put it mildly. I was in grade 11 I think. John, their son, was on our football team, and I knew Tim as a college kid I looked up to. Dr. Dave was buried in the cemetery at the end of our street. I grieved, but not too deeply, I don't think. I try to honor him, in how I work with people in music and I do think about him from time to time, especially when I feel like complaining about my situation or when the music I am involved with is sucking. Mainly because I never EVER heard him complain once and if anyone had reason to, it was him. Incidentally, I received the scholarship in his name every year I was in Bible College. I am very grateful.
I think it was my grandma who passed away next. I think it was my freshman year in college. I think this because my grandma came to live with my parents and I don't remember a lot about when she was there. I think I was in the dorm. I think I wanted to avoid the situation, probably because it made me uncomfortable. My grandma was sick and my mom was taking care of her in her last days. My mom was the one that carried the whole weight of that. I am sorry that I stayed so distant in that time. My only memory of that time after was of the viewing. We were there with my mom's family and the funeral director left us there with my grandma for an awful long time. We cried and grieved, like we thought we should. But that didn't take long. Awkward silence followed. Then snickers. And before long, we in stitches, for no particular reason. Probably because of the awkwardness of it.
Then there was Josh. He was my best friend while my family lived in northern Manitoba. After we moved, we kept in touch. We wrote letters and sent tapes of our song ideas - he was an amazing musician. But then, the letters and tapes traversed our provinces less frequently. I went back to visit him once. Then, we just lost touch. There was thread of connection through his parents friendship with my parents and his sister's friendship with my sister. That was about it. And it was through those thin connections that I got word he was struggling with schizophrenia. Like the "good" friend I was, I didn't do anything to contact him. Nothing. A heavy regret I carry to this day. And it was through those thin connections that I heard he had passed away.
We went to the funeral in Winkler MB, Angela, my parents and I. There were so many people I watched it all from a tent outside. I sobbed like a baby. And sadly it wasn't tears for him, it was my guilt and shame for not reconnecting with him. It was the "only ifs" that stung. But, as little as I know about grieving, I think that may be part of the package cause I think I've hit different stages in the process at various times. Now, if I cry, it is because a mother and father lost a son, a brother and two sisters lost a brother, I have lost a friend and this world has lost a magnificent man.
I have heard a bit of his God journey near the end of his life. He lived for God but it was a struggle. . .
(A pause. I am just sitting here, remembering)
So that is really the extent of my close brushes with death. I am not sure why I wrote that all, but you may be surprised to know that there is happiness for me in writing this. It has been good remembering. It has been good for my soul.
Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die
I just finished reading Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven But Nobody Wants To Die or the eschatology of bluegrass by David Crowder and Mike Hogan. In fact, I finished it within three minutes of writing this sentence and the one previous - all this to say, the following thoughts will be my gut reaction.
Well first of all, I don't contemplate dying, the soul, heaven or hell much. I think about it occasionally, in different forms but I don't contemplate it. Which surprises me cause death has brushed my family and friends, I co-lead a church that "should" be concerned with the state of man's soul, I have conducted a few funerals and have committed the dead to the dust of the earth (graveside service).
When I think about "how I think about" death, it usually is in the context of: "God, it would suck if Angela died" or "what would I do if one of my boyz died" or "what would life be like for Angela if I died" and then I don't want to think about those things anymore. But then I do, but the thoughts are usually accompanied by an ache and I think the ache is my understanding that death is a reality. The ache is that knowledge that I really don't know how long Angela, the boyz or I will continue to draw breath. That I am not in control of that and at it could be at any time I may loose someone. The ache is also the realization that I don't deserve life (this may need some explanation but for now, I am talking about the sin-state of man) and though I am thankful for it, it can be taken. And what this all boils down to then, is the fear of what comes next.
You see, the Bible is not really clear as to what comes next. That's what these two guys want us to know: that no one really knows what the soul is, and what happens to it after we die. Yeah, we have our theories: we don't really have a soul; that we have a soul but it dies when the body dies; when you die, your soul goes to sleep, that when the body dies, the soul leaves the body and resides in the presence of God; that the soul leaves and spends some time in purgatory (place where the soul cleanses itself before final judgement; and more theories I don't care to explain (p. 172-176).
Honestly, I don't know why I shared that in particular. I think what I was trying to get to is that Christians have spent little time thinking about such things and as a result, we paint for ourselves a misguided picture of heaven:- It will be better
The authors point out that very little of this is actually in scripture.
- There will be no problems
- There will be no sickness
- It will be peaceful
- We will be in the presence of God and/or Christ
- The cripple will be healed
- We will see friends and family that have died before us
- We will be eternal
- There will be humor
- People in heaven will be recognizable as they were in life
- There will be Angels
p. 176
Now that I typed that, I can't remember why I brought that up.
Ok, so I guess the point of the book, without giving it away is that we do have a soul, we will all feel the weight of death, we all will die, but because of the death of the human son of God, WE WIN! Death has no victory!
There is more to it than that of course. . . They talk a lat about bluegrass . . .
It may be interesting to note that David Crowder released their album A Collision, which is all about the struggle with death, long before they thought of writing this book. In fact, the death of Kyle Lake came shortly after the release of the album and it is his death (close friend of David and Mike) which had a huge influence in writing the book. And it was Kyle Lake who was instrumental in seeing the A Collision album released before he died.
If you haven't checked out the album, you should. It is weird - a fantastic piece of art in my opinion. And now I understand and appreciate that album so much more after reading the book.
And like the album, the book is weird too. It has insecure humor, weird stories, IM conversations, illustrations, and lots of footnotes. If you are an academic, probably not the book for you (they reference Wikipedia quite a lot).
So those are my gut reactions. Perhaps I will write more as I ponder more.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Theological leanings
I took this test today, inspired by Marc.
You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists.
Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan
71% Emergent/Postmodern
61% Fundamentalist
50% Charismatic/Pentecostal
46% Neo orthodox
43% Roman Catholic
39% Modern Liberal
39% Reformed Evangelical
32% Classical Liberal
29%
What's your theological worldview?
created with QuizFarm.com
I am not totally sure how to respond. This is the first time I took this test. Perhaps in time, I will take it again to see how I change, or rather, my theology changes.
I thought it was interesting that I scored as high as I did in the "Fundamentalist" category. I'm not sure that that means. My excuse is that fundamentalism is not all bad.
I think being in the C&MA (Christian & Missionary Alliance) has had quite the influence in me, especially in the Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan area.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
I see, said the blind man to the deaf lady . . .
With the holiday season upon us, I've had more time to do nothing. And what does a guy do when he has nothing to do? Of course, he watches TV.
So, I have watched some pretty random shows lately. So random, I can't remember what they were called, but what I found interesting about a number of them is that they like to do this narration thing. - that in between dialogue, a voice explaines what is going on. It is actually what kept me watching. Not because it enhanced the story but quite the opposite. It's oddness just kept me glued.
Well, I turned to a random show tonight and it too had this narration thing going on. I had some sort of thought like "not another one! How many shows like this can the viewing public handle?" Then another thought struck me: "maybe this is not really for the viewing public. Maybe this is some sort of feature for the visually impaired." But surely, technology had not advanced this far had it?
I decided to play with the audio settings on my TV. Right away I noticed they were set to "SAP". I have never known what SAP means but I have always been curious. In the past I settled for the "Stereo" setting beacuse I understood that and "mono" is boring. Well, you guessed it, when I set my audio back to stereo, the voice disappeared! Amazing. I actually thought these shows were starting a new trend and that I was at the forefront.
But I wonder, how does a visually impaired person go about changing the settings on their TV? I have the pleasure of good eyesight and even I didn't notice the settings were changed.
Point of the story: if you are ever bored and are watching a dull show on TV, turn your audio to "SAP" and close your eyes to really experience the show. It will come alive! No not really, but I bet you are tempted to try it, aren't you?
And hey, I'll save you some time: wikipedia says that SAP means Second Audio Program. Who? was to know they could broadcast more than one audio signal?
Apology?
So I feel that I must apologize. But why should I, this is my blog. Yeah, that's right - something in me feels apologetic about not posting for many days. But something else in feels that I shouldn't care. So which something should I listen to? I guess if I quit writing, people will stop coming by, so for that reason I should be more prudent.
And I guess this would be the paragraph where I write all my excuses for not blogging, but frankly, I am feeling too lazy to write any right now.
And this would be the paragraph where I tell you what has been going on in our lives but I'm not in the mood. I have actually been really tired of the internet and all that comes with it. I have been neglecting my email inbox(es) and only really hitting Google when I absolutely have to. I don't really know why that is, but sitting in front of a monitor doesn't appeal to me these days.
So now I have a week of almost nothing. My only responsibilities are those that come with having a family and making sure the Sunday Service happens next Sunday. All the other stuff is for fun. What I am saying is is that I imagine I'll have a lot of time to read, think and write and if that is the case, this blog will be a little more active.
Merry Christmas. I hope these days are filled with curiosity, awe and wonder . . .
Friday, December 15, 2006
When Christmas falls on Sunday
Ok, so I know it is a year late, but I just came across this blog by Scot McKnight on the issue of whether to cancel the Christmas day service (2005). Many churches did and many Christians didn't like it. I read this blog cause Rick and I were considering not having a Sunday Service at all this Christmas Eve. The board didn't go for it and that's fine, but I hope they at least thought about it. If you are interested in this kinda topic, read the full post here. But click "read more" under here to see a few excerpts from it.Here’s a fact consider: evidently, God thought a bundle of days were so important for the Jewish calendar that he gave laws both on the necessity of their annual celebration and he told them just how to celebrate that day. And Israel did just that.
Does that wet your whistle? Go to http://www.jesuscreed.org/?p=601 to reat the whole blog. Good stuff. . .
Here’s something else to think about: evidently the same God didn’t think the same of Christmas, for there are no legislations about keeping but one “holiday”: the Lord’s supper. . . .
Does the NT teach a Sunday morning worship service? Well, the evidence isn’t what some are making it out to be. We need to be fair here: there is a distinction between what is taught and what is mentioned or hinted at as something practiced. And there is no clear text legislating that Christians are to meet for worship on a Sunday morning.
And it ought to be observed that there is, whether some will admit it or not, no clear connection between Christian worship on a Sunday and the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a day of “rest” while the Sunday was a time of “worship.” (See here A.G. Shead, New Dict. of Bibl. Theol, 749-50.) Not one shred of evidence here. In fact, the Apostle Paul says in Col 2:16 that one’s judgment about Sabbaths ought to be kept to oneself – or at least it ought not to be used as an instrument of judgment. (I have a hard time, and you probably do too, thinking Paul is letting ordinary Christians render judgment about when they were to “attend worship.”)
... let me poke some in the eye here: what I’m reading is that there is too much identification of “worship” with Sunday morning and too much identification of “being the church” with “attending a Sunday morning service.” I find this pretty surprising in that so many are making the case, pretty solidly I think, that “church” is not something done on Sunday mornings but something we “are” and “are all through the week” – climaxing at the Lord’s table and in Sunday worship. . . .
. . . another issue involved for many churches: the performance nature of the Christmas Eve service is so intense that there is nothing left for another service. Again, you might fight hard against the “performance” level and concentration (cantata, musical, theatricals, whatever), but argue that that and not that churches have lost their soul if they cancel Christmas Sunday services.
In particular
I work with young people. If you do too, or have kids, or have friends who have kids, you may find this interesting. I am quoting from an article in a online magazine that I pay for called "Engage." It is the journal of youth culture put together by the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding (CPYU). The article is called "In Particular" and is written by the CPYU president, Walt Mueller. In the article he lists and explains "10 surprising things you need to know about youth culture." Here is his list:
1. Advertising is a powerful shaper of kids.It is for reason 10 that I work with young people. It is for reason 10 that I have no trouble bringing up my boys in this world. But those first 9 sure shape kids now adays.
2. Everything's happening at younger and younger ages.
3. They are engaging new media in new ways.
4. Family violence is rampant.
5. The nature of peer pressure has changed.
6. Materialism is a desirable lifestyle.
7. Oral sex is big.
8. Far too many kids depressed.
9. There's little difference between churched and un-churched kids.
10. In the midst of all this, children and teens are increasingly becoming more and more aware of their deep hunger for something more.
This article made me think about my middle-school kids and why they frustrate me so much. But I do have a lot of hope for them.
Each of these "surprising things" were discussed in the article, but this gives you a outline as to what shapes our kids. If you are interested in reading the whole article, let me know. I know I can get permission to distribute it.
