Life In The Fehrway

The Temptation To Do Nothing

2007-07-25T22:09:00.000-06:00

This past year or two, as evidenced by my posts, I have become rather cynical of the current form that the Western church has taken on. However, I have seen some of these frames of mind that so anger me creep into my own life, without necessarily realizing it at the time. I am talking about the temptation to slip into a life of passivity, choosing to take the path of least resistance.

I found myself slipping into this mindset with regards to my practicum at the Mustard Seed this past year at school. Its not that I hated my practicum by any means; its just that those 5 hours every Sunday (just shows how it doesn't take much to desire the easier path) spent in service there often in my mind would have been more enjoyable spent relaxing with friends. However, I always enjoyed myself once I got to my practicum, as it was very rare that I wouldn't see God using me to reach out to those in need. But I did do my share of complaining about all the time requirements of my practicum when I was away from it.

It was during one of these times that my youth pastor said something that really hit home. He said that those of us in Bible school are there because we are pursuing a career in ministry, and that the small amount of time committed to our respective practicums is insignificant compared to the demands of being a pastor or missionary. He also said that going to a Christian school, practicum is often our only interaction with non-believers; without this vital interaction, we fail to carry out Jesus' ministry on this earth, as He came to seek and to save the lost. This really put things into perspective for me. Here I am so upset with churches whose members shy away from stepping out and taking risks, when committing a mere 5 hours a week to ministry seemed like a daunting task. I wish I could say that I no longer have these begrudging feelings towards my upcoming practicum, but I do. Perhaps its our fallen human nature to always be pulled towards the path of least resistance, or maybe I'm just lazy. However, at least now I shall attempt to keep things in perspective, as life really is the most exciting and rewarding when you are stepping out in accordance to God's leading.

Something to Think About

2007-07-12T23:31:00.000-06:00

I just thought I would post some thoughts on a question that I have been pondering these last couple of months. Since it is looking increasingly likely that I will become a pastor, I believe this question is particularly relevant. My question is simply regarding the role and effectiveness of the so-called super/mega churches. While I have little to no experiences with these huge churches, I feel that with such large congregations, the people easily become just another number on the attendance sheets, rather than a unique individual with unique spiritual needs.

To me one of the essential features of a healthy church is the relational aspect among the congregation. The body of Christ is meant to strengthen and encourage each other, to support each other in all situations, to hold each other accountable, all the while enabling and equipping each person to carry on the ministry of Christ. I feel that in such a large church many people are alienated, and it becomes extremely difficult to establish these much needed Christian relationships.

Here is where my questioning comes in. Would it not be more effective for these large churches rather to break off into several smaller churches, better equipped to handle individual needs? By dividing into smaller localized churches, the church has a far greater reaching influence. People are more likely to wander into a church if it is in their section of the city rather than located a 30+ minute drive away. Also, different areas have different needs, and localized churches can respond specifically to the needs of their community. I know if/when I become a pastor, I wish to serve in a church where I can know a majority of the people by name, actually investing in them, as opposed to simply delivering a sermon every Sunday and that being the sum of my ministry.

Many people will argue that the mega churches are able to generate a far greater revenue from tithes and offerings, thus enabling them to support more missionaries, help more charities, etc. While this is all good in and of itself, this should not be the only reason a church exists. So often churches attempt to assimilate into the current culture that our churches end up more closely resembling shopping malls than places of worship. For example, one of the large churches in Calgary invested in a giant waterfall for their foyer; what I would like to know, is in what way does a giant waterfall further the Kingdom of God? Could not the money have been put to better use than to make the church building more physically attractive to the outsider? The church is not a business and should not attempt to function like one; the church is a living organism, the current manifestation of Christ on earth. Many times money simply isn't the answer; volunteering your time and energy to help someone is often a far greater witness than simply throwing money at a problem and hoping it goes away.

Maybe I'm overly cynical and biased when it comes to the idea of these mega-churches, but these are simply some of my thoughts on the issue.

Back in the Saddle Again...

2007-07-05T00:11:00.001-06:00

I decided it was time to try this blogging thing again, as I finally have some thoughts to write about. I have began rereading Philip Yancey's The Jesus I Never Knew, and once again it is causing me to think about Jesus from a whole new perspective.

Today I read the chapter describing the Christmas story as it actually happened, which runs completely counter to our popular Western opinion of the story. Jesus birth was not the pleasant, happy event depicted on Christmas cards and in most churches during the holiday season. Jesus was born into a world of constant turmoil and strife; conditions under the tyrant Herod were likely comparable to those in Stalin's Russia. Not only was this a tough time to be a Jew historically, but on a more personal level Jesus was born in disgrace. Not only would the close-knit Jewish community have shunned Joseph and Mary for having a seemingly illegitimate child, but Jesus would have been rejected as well. Jesus entered our world through the humblest of births. Yancey writes that this was the first time in history that humble was ever conveyed as a trait of deity.

All of this got me to thinking. It is widely known that Jesus was and is a 'friend of sinners', but I believe we too often attribute this solely as an act of compassion for His fallen creation. While the truth of this statement is undisputed, I believe there is much more too it. I believe that a big reason Jesus chose to associate with the downtrodden and outcast in society was because He was one of them (not in the sense of being a sinner, however). Because of this maybe Jesus simply felt more comfortable around the down and out. Shame and disgrace were all too familiar to Him long before the cross, a fact I think we all too often forget. From an earthly perpective, most of us in Canada are born a couple steps ahead of Jesus, brom a economic and societal perspective. Our culture is far removed from that of first-century Israel.

Yancey quotes Malcolm Muggeridge when he writes, "It is...extremely improbably, under existing conditions, that Jesus would have been permitted to be born at all. Mary's pregnancy, in poor circumstances, and with the father unknown, would have been an obvious case for an abortion; and her talk of having conceived as a result of the intervention of the Holy Spirit would have pointed to the need for psychiatric treatment, and made the case for terminating her pregnancy even stronger. Thus our generation, needing a Savior more, perhaps, than any that has ever existed, would be too humane to allow one to be born."

At this point it is getting late and my thoughts aren't as clear as I'd like, but I shall attempt to tie this all together as best I can. Based on our relative wealth and life of ease, it is difficult, if not impossible, to fully comprehend the love it took for God to humble Himself to such an extent, becoming fully human. I imagine it to be somewhat like the potter taking on the form of one of his pots. Such a humbling I cannot imagine.

However, our inability to comprehend something does not give us the right to remain passive and inactive. Jesus' mission to the downtrodden has been passed down to us and continues today. Simply giving money to charities, homeless shelters, etc. often is simply not enough. Affecting life change in others requires complete submission, not simply the submission of tithes and gifts. Money cannot sit and listen to a person's life story, nor can it offer up prayers on the behalf of others. Jesus Himself said that to those whom much has been given, much will be demanded. I don't believe He was referring strictly to monetary matters. The life of the Christian is a life of service, following Christ's example. Which poses the question: Who are you a servant to through the love of Christ? Coworkers? Family? Friends? Your enemies? That beggar on the street corner? If your answer is one or a couple of those groups listed, it is not good enough. Jesus calls us to be a servant to ALL.

Hopefully this all kind of makes sense, and is more than just my late night ramblings.

One Less Thing To Do Before I Die...

2007-03-27T21:51:00.000-06:00

Where to begin? Last night I one of my biggest dreams was fulfilled, one which up until recently I had thought would never happen. If you hadn't guessed, last night I got to see Eric Clapton perform live!!! He clearly is one of the most talented musicians around today.

The whole atmosphere at this concert was unlike any I have ever attended...the majority of the audience was middle-aged, with many a former hippy. It was not one of those wildly energetic shows, but one where you simply sit back in awe of all the talent assembled onstage.

The Robert Cray Band opened the show. Normally, I am rather skeptical of opening bands, as usually I get bored and frustrated waiting for the main show. Tonight was not one of those nights. Robert Cray is an extremely talented blues musician, and I was completely drawn into the music. In addition, he can solo with the best of them (Clapton excluded). I was actually saddened when he finished his 40 minute opening set. There is something about fine blues music that just draws you in until you are completely absorbed in the music. The crowd was appreciative of his talent as well, as the applause and cheering grew louder with each successive song (many of them probably had never heard of the Robert Cray Band). Under normal circumstances, this act would have been a tough one to follow due to the sheer amount of musical talent.

I do not even know where to begin to describe the main event of the night. I did not know it was possible to assemble so much talent in a single band. In addition to Clapton, there was another guitarist, a drummer, an organist, a pianist, a bassist, and two female background vocalists, all with considerable talent. More time was spent soloing than singing by a wide margin, which to me is a sign of a good show. One song lasted for about 15 minutes, as almost everyone in the band was given extensive solos. The organ and piano solos were especially amazing, although the highlight for me was of course the bass solo. For the most part, I did not recognize too many songs, but that was of no consequence. In the middle of his preformance, Clapton did a 'sit-down' set, where he played his hollow-body electric and acoustic guitars, playing some softer traditional blues. He then went on to play about 5 more songs, finishing the night off with 'Layla'.

For the encore, he returned to the stage and played absolutely captivating versions of 'Cocaine' and 'Crossroads'. For 'Crossroads', Robert Cray returned to the stage to share vocals and guitar solos with Clapton for an incredible performance. What a night!

When I stood up to leave after the show ended, I was immediately light-headed and dizzy. At first I thought maybe it was the fact that our seats were so high up, but then I realized it probably had more to do with the thick cloud of marijuana smoke in our area. But other than that, it was the concert event of a lifetime.

LYC: Closer

2007-03-22T23:52:00.000-06:00

Well, I am writing today in a state of sickness and utter exhaustion...as you probably know, it was youth conference here last weekend. Let me tell you, until you have actually worked at a youth conference, you have absolutely no idea how much work goes into it. I added it up, and over the course of three days, I put in approximately 42 hours of work for LYC, hence my being sick and tired all this week. But it was well worth it.

I signed up to work as an usher this year, thinking that it was a fairly easy job and a way to be involved in the weekend. Let me tell you, it was anything but a slack job, whether it was acting as security, serving food to the delegates, etc. After getting a behind the scenes look at youth conference, I will find it hard to ever complain about such an event again. There are so many people working behind the scene that go unnoticed, yet play an essential role. Perhaps the greatest part of the weekend for me occurred during the final rally. I was up front running security during the worship, but was not really needed, as the kids were not too out of control. Instead, I was able to simply join in the worship with the rest of the youth who had come to the front to worship. It was just a great feeling to see college students worshiping alongside the high school students as one body. As much as my body is telling me I should have taken it easy last weekend rather than volunteering my services at LYC, I have been incredibly blessed by the experience, and would do it all again...as soon as I recover from the last one!

Post #60!

2007-03-16T10:02:00.000-06:00

I'm not really sure how to begin this post, but just wanted to share some things that God has shown me about myself in the past little while, things I need to be freed from in order to maintain a healthy ministry to those around me. Recently I have realized the extent to which I have been plagued by guilt, not guilt over things I've done, but over things I think I could have done. Let me explain.

In the past couple of years, I have watched as good friends have fallen away from their faith, making decisions that will only hurt themselves and those around them. Never once did I speak up, even though it was not necessarily my place to say anything. In the back of my mind, I have always had the belief that if only I had said or done something, then maybe things would have turned out differently for my friends. In a way, I have placed some of the blame for their decisions upon myself, frequently pondering the 'what ifs'. I care so deeply for the well-being of my friends that I too often hold to the false belief that I can personally change them, placing an unfair burden upon myself. I guess you could say that I have a hero/savior complex in that I want to be the one to change people. It hurts me to see my friends make poor choices in life. This is an area of life that I need to surrender completely to God; deep down I know that only a loving God can change hearts, and need to trust Him to do what only He can do. I am sick of living with guilt that is not mine to bear, and want to be free of it.

I think that when I try to change people by myself, it can actually have the opposite of my intended effect. It is only God who knows the inner workings of a person's heart, so the best thing I can do is continue to uplift my friends in prayer. However, the Bible does call Christians to hold each other accountable. Part of being a friend is speaking what is on your heart even when it is difficult to do so. Proverbs 27:6 says that "Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses." I honestly do not know where to draw the line between when to step up and say something and when to simply pray and let God do what He does best.

These are issues that I must resolve, especially if I am to enter full time ministry. As a pastor, you simply cannot carry the weight of everbody's burdens; this will only lead to unbearable stress and burnout. It is my desire to give all of this up to God, and instead let Him use me as He sees fit to accomplish His will.

Part Two

2007-03-14T00:42:00.000-06:00

Today I would like to continue to share some of the things God has been teaching me as of late. It's amazing how much you learn when you make an effort to resume daily devotions! On a side note, having morning devotions really makes a huge difference in your day; I didn't really believe this until I tried it for myself. I'm just glad to have a roommate who challenged me to start up daily devotions again. Anyways, what I wanted to write about today is choices.

Once again, many of these ideas are taken from the book "Chasing Daylight". We all want to know what God's plan is for us in regards to our future; uncertainty is never pleasant. As a result, many of us simply sit around waiting for God to illuminate a clear and marked out path; in waiting around for an answer, we often become rather unproductive workers in the kingdom. Many times, it is not the case of God not clearly laying out his complete plans for us, but of us simply needing to make a choice. The Bible clearly outlines how one ought to live; if a person constantly chooses the good over evil, they will be moving down the path that God has chosen for them. McManus describes this situation when he writes:

"On of the most-asked questions among sincere followers of Jesus Christ is, 'What is God's will for my life?' We want a detailed map or plan. We want God to spell it out so we can follow the instructions. Too often we want it clear and uncomplicated, but God simply does not work like that. For a lot of us the most spiritual thing we can do is to do something - to turn right when we want to turn left. So we must move beyond simply choosing between right and wrong. We must resolve not only to leave the path of doing evil, but also to passionately pursue a life of doing good. The danger is getting stuck in between the two, living your life in the neutral zone. No real evil to speak about, but no great good to be proud of either. This takes us beyond having nothing to be ashamed of to being ashamed if we do nothing. It is rarely counted as evil when we live in neutral."

I think that sometimes we simply claim to be waiting for God to show us the path as an excuse not to go out and do something. For example, a person may decline helping a homeless person using the excuse that they didn't feel God called them specifically to the task. If there is a good work to be done, it will never be contrary to the character of God to accomplish the task, provided it is done with proper motives. Uncertainty is not an excuse to do nothing.

Another obstacle that prevents people from truly embarking down the path God has chosen for them is a fear of trusting their passions. McManus addresses this issue when he writes:

"With the depth of godly character comes an intensity of godly passion...For some strange reason many sincere followers of Christ have come to think that their passions are always in conflict with God's purpose. Yet the psalmist said, 'Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart: (Ps. 37:4). When you draw near to God, God infuses passion. God works through human desires."

Basically, if you are truly and whole-heartedly seeking after God, it is safe to trust your passions and desires, as they will be in line with the heart of God. These are lessons that I have been learning this year. My future still remains unclear but I took the first step of coming to Bible school this year, and know without a doubt that this is right where I am supposed to be. I also believe that I am supposed to return here next year, and eventually graduate with my degree. It has brought me that much closer to fulfilling God's plan for my life. I would never have come to this realization had I not made the choice to come to school here this year. I believe that the more we choose the good, the more God will reveal Himself and His purposes to us. This may have been a rather long blog, but I've also been learning a lot lately.

Part One of _______

2007-03-12T11:57:00.000-06:00

I would just like to share some things that God has been showing me over the past week or so. I have recently began reading the book "Chasing Daylight" by Erwin Raphael McManus, and it has had a great impact on my daily life. The theme of the book, as cliche as it may sound, is about seizing every moment, letting God work through you moment by moment. As I have recently discovered, this is an extremely exciting and fulfilling way to live your life. McManus writes:

"The most important moments rarely come at a convenient time. Sometimes you wish that God would check your calendar first. The ironic part is that our schedules get packed with the mundane and ordinary, and we become irritated with God when He interrupts us with the miraculous and extraordinary. The Scriptures are full of stories about people who were rudely interupted by God. We read them and long to have the kind of adventure experienced by those men and women. Yet when God interrupts us, are we willing to respond on a moment's notice?"

So many of us, myself included, have a desire to lead an exciting, meaningful life, yet want to live this life on our own terms. We live with the fear that God may call us to do something undesirable, something that may disrupt our day-to-day life. However, when you live moment by moment, the only thing you can worry about is the choices you make in that particular moment. I experienced this first hand yesterday as I was walking home from the Mustard Seed. I was in a bit of a hurry because I had dinner plans with a friend last night, when a guy approached me on the street. He introduced himself, and when he learned that I go to Bible school, he told me that he had become a Christian himself in the last couple years, as he had nowhere else to turn. He then proceeded to tell me a long story about how both his parents had died, and he had spent every last bit of his savings on bus fares to get from Toronto to Fort McMurray, where he had just got a job. He no longer had any money to buy food, and had very few possessions. To make a long story short, I ended up going with him to an ATM and giving him a bit of money. I still am not sure whether I believed his story, but he told me that he figured my helping him out was God's way of letting him know that He still loved him, so who am I to say any different? I believe that when we focus on living for each moment, we may have opportunities such as this that we may have otherwise ignored or missed. When you remain open to God's leading, even ordinary things such as walking home from work can become opportunities for ministry. As of late, I find life much more exciting and rewarding, as I never know where/how God may use me next. This is so much better than simply trying to order and plan my life around my own hopes and desires. More on what I have been learning to follow...

My Second Blog This Week!

2007-03-08T22:05:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share some thoughts that have been on my mind as of late, something I believe is of utter importance for those seeking after God. For the past couple days I have been reflecting on the significance close community plays for the Christian walk. This point really hit home last night at our floor meeting. For the first time in a while we had almost our entire floor present for the weekly meeting. This weeks meeting consisted of a short devotional by our RA, followed by a time of prayer. The openess and care of all the guys on the floor really impacted me; people with prayer requests of any kind shared them with the group, and the rest of us subsequently layed hands on them and prayed for them. This may sound all well and good, but it was more than the atmosphere of trust and care that really impacted me; it was the unity of all us guys as the body of Christ that really amazed me, and here is why. You see, like any group of people, everybody on our floor does not always get along, and there is actually some dislike between some of the guys. However, all of that got put aside at our meeting, as we became the unified body of Christ. I can't recall the last time I ever experienced this type of community in a church, and to me that is a problem. We were not called to walk this life alone. In his book "Holiness in the Gospels" (which I had to read for a class), Kent Brower writes:

"discipleship is not an individual pursuit. The disciples are in it together. The call of the Twelve who are made into a group is instructive. The impression of these disparate persons being fashioned into the corporate representatives of the new people of God is strengthened by the Last Supper, their subsequent failure, and Jesus' reconstitution of them in Galilee...We need to think of discipleship as something we do together in following Jesus, not something that is done alone...discipleship means being together with Jesus on His mission."

The disciples came from a wide range of backgrounds, from tax collectors despised by the people to Zealots seeking to overthrow the Roman powers. Yet these differences were for the most part sidelined as they walked with Jesus. Even without the disciples, Jesus would not have been alone in His ministry. Jesus lived life in a radical dependence on the Holy Spirit, much as we are called to do today. By living in community, we can encourage, strengthen, comfort, and lift up one another before God. Community also helps hold us accountable, and provides support during times of weakness. I have experienced these benefits first-hand this year, whether it be by being prayed over by my brothers in Christ or simply being challenged to get my devotional life back on track. I am truly grateful to have been a part of Gerry Hall this year.

I'm Back!!!

2007-03-04T22:32:00.000-07:00

Where to begin? Its been awhile since my last blog; I keep meaning to blog, but never get around to it, and as a result have forgotten a lot of what I wanted to share. So what follows promises to be a compilation of random thoughts and ideas from the past month or so.

#1: Skiriffic! Never in my life have I played as much bass as I did in that week. But as time consuming as all of the practices were, it was a lot of fun. I say this every year about Skiriffic, but this was the most talented band I have yet had the pleasure of being a part of. It was also the quickest I have ever seen a band gel. The very first song we ever practiced as a band came together and didn't sound half bad. The only explanation is that God had a hand in it, as a band is simply not supposed to sound good after only playing together for a week. As for Skiriffic itself, everything seemed to go really well, apart from a few guitar dropping incidents. The speaker seemed to really connect with the teens, although I don't know how many decisions were made that night. By the end of the week, I was ready to return to school so that I could recover from the break.

#2: My practicum at The Mustard Seed has continues as usual. Today we held the second memorial service there that I have been too. Today's memorial service was for a man who died in the intox at The Seed. It was somewhat of an interesting service. The man's sisters and other family members were in attendance, which would have been encouraging to the street people in attendance, simply seeing that this man had a family and was not alone. For many of them, death is a reality, as their various addictions have led to poor health; I believe that it is their hope that when they do pass away, their family will be present there, much as this man's family was present. It was also beneficial for the family, as they got to talk to and speak to those who counted the deceased as a friend, thus learning details about his life that they may not otherwise have heard. All in all, my practicum has been a very beneficial experience for me, so much so that I am returning to The Seed for my second year practicum.

#3: I believe that God may finally be revealing at least a little bit of what the future holds in store for me, which was my hope for coming to Bible school this year. This revelation occurred in quite an unexpected manner: through a spiritual gifts assessment for one of my classes. According to this test, my most dominant spiritual gifts are that of a pastor and missionary, respectively. When I saw this, I thought, maybe there is something to this. Those were the two jobs that I had always said I would never have, and had always secretly hoped that I would never be called to those vocations. However, after seeing the results of this assessment, I thought that maybe there was something to it. The idea of being a pastor or missionary does not seem quite as fearful as it once did. At this point I know nothing for certain, merely that God is leading me in that general direction, wherever that may take me. So as it stands, I have plans of completely my 4-year Bachelor of Ministry degree, hopefully receiving a greater clarification of my calling in the process.

#4: The last thing that I would like to share is simply the thing that has impacted me the most while attending AUC-NUC, and that is simply the professors at the school. I think I speak for all the guys on my floor when I say that you would be hard-pressed to find a more quality group of men than those who teach us. They display genuine care for their students; I don't know of any other schools where the teachers are on a first name basis with their students, or who are more easily approachable. How many people have ever had professors come and hang out with the students outside of school? Maybe the better question would be how many students actually want their professors to hang out with them? The answer to both questions is the students of AUC-NUC. Many of us guys look to our professors as shining examples of what it means to be godly men, and see that as something to strive for in life. While not every class will be interesting, at our school there are more important things than academics, as is stressed by the faculty. It is all about growing in faith as a community of believers. So there is my little plug for my school...come join me here next fall!

#5: One more thing! I would just like to say that I am very disappointed with my Oilers as of late. There is no way Ryan Smyth should have been traded for a couple prospects and a draft pick. You simply cannnot put a price on the heart he plays with. So I am still a loyal fan, but a very bitter and disappointed fan; this is not made easier by all the Canucks and Flames fans around me. But still...GO OILERS GO!!!

Music Worth Listening To

2007-02-03T01:44:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure how many people actually read my blog anymore, but regardless, I still need a place to write down my thoughts. I don't really have anything too profound to share, I merely wish to share the lyrics of another song. Today I purchased the new album by Dustin Kensrue (the lead singer of Thrice), and one song in particular stood out to me. I highly recommend the album, especially if you enjoy acoustic folk-style music. Here it is:

Please Come Home

Well I woke one morning,
Found you staring down at me
You said 'I'll take my share now father, please'
And you took your money, and you took your leave
And you took my heart and turned your back on me

Then you hit the town
And you hit the bottle hard
And you race round in your fancy cars
And you blow all your money
In brothel's beds and bars
And before you know
You're broke and times are hard

And I still stand here waiting
With my eyes fixed on the road
And I fight back tears and wonder
If you're ever coming home
Don't you know son that I love you
And I don't care where you've been
So please come home

And now you've hit bottom,
And all those open doors have shut
And your hungry stomach's tied in knots
But I know what you're thinking
That you've troubled me enough
But nothing could ever
Separate you from my love

Don't you know son that I love you
And I don't care where you've been
Yes and I'll be right here waiting
Till you come around the bend
Then I'll run to you and hold you close
And won't let go again
So please come home

Need I say more? I believe the lyrics pretty much speak for themselves.

Another Day at the Seed

2007-01-29T11:10:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday was my third week of practicum at the Mustard Seed. It seems like every week I would much rather just stay home than spend my entire afternoon working at my practicum; however, once my shift starts, I always enjoy myself and am glad I took the practicum I did.

The first part of my shift began just like any other, where my main role was simply to hang out and chat with those people there for the lunch meal. I have been there enough that I am starting to recognize and get to know some of the regulars, all of whom are friendly guys. Some of them surprisingly know where Cold Lake is! Yesterday, after talking to some of the guys about hockey, life, etc., I got into a long conversation with a man that I had previously befriended. I sat there for what must have been 15-20 minutes, as he basically told me his entire life story, and told of his daily struggles with addictions and life in general on the streets. I cannot share any details for privacy reasons, but it was a very sobering experience. I felt so helpless, as not only could I not directly relate to his experiences, but I did not know how to help him in a way other than just by listening to him and praying for him. The sheer hopelessness and depression of his situation was something that I was not used to.

Another thing that struck me was that he was willing to pour out his life story to me when I had only met him two weeks earlier. From what I understand, it is extremely difficult for street people to trust anyone, and for him to place this kind of trust in me was a little mind-boggling. After all, I am nothing more than a student working there once a week for a practicum; I am not some kind of counselor or chaplain with the qualifications to help him. Maybe that is why he opened up to me, because I am not as intimidating as someone older with greater qualifications. Regardless, it was a great experience, and each week at the Mustard Seed God uses me in different ways. I am extremely happy that I chose to do my practicum there rather than simply become a youth leader at a church like the majority of my classmates. It is a real eye-opening experience, and I think I am learning more through my practicum than I am through my classes. To close out this blog, I would simply like to share the lyrics to a song by the band Killswitch Engage. For those of you who have not listened to them, their music consists of a great deal of screaming and yelling, backed up by heavy guitar riffs and pounding drum beats; however, unlike many metal bands, their lyrics are powerful and uplifting, not despairing.

Reject Yourself

Their cries are blown away with the wind.

How passive can we be before humanity is lost?

Turning our backs on those who need love.

We must not rest while healing is needed.

Tear down the veil that bars your heart from feeling this.

Dedicate yourself. Give your souls to compassion.

With open arms embrace this heart.

With open eyes behold the truth.

Embrace this life. So little time is left.

We must be relentless in our pursuit of those in torment.

Tear down the veil that bars your heart from feeling this.

Dedicate yourself. Become the voice of compassion.

With open arms embrace this heart.

With open eyes behold the truth.

Embrace this life. Can you reject yourself?

Can you feel their agony?

In a world that feeds on disregard. Heal the broken hearted.

Jack Bauer and Christianity: An Unlikely Parallel

2007-01-16T00:13:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have not had the pleasure of following along with the adventures of Jack Bauer in the hit TV show 24, this blog may not make as much sense as it could had you viewed the show. For the record, the parallel/analogy drawn in this blog is not my original ideas, but how my Cultural Perspectives professor chose to introduce the class.

For those of you who haven't seen the show, Jack Bauer is like a modern-day MacGyver in the words of my teacher, only he uses his considerable intellect and ingenuity to kill people (terrorists in particular). So keeping that in mind, here is how the story unfolds from the season premier last night. WARNING: IF YOU ARE WAITING UNTIL SEASON 6 OF 24 COMES OUT ON DVD, READ NO FARTHER, AS SOME PLOT LINES ARE GIVEN AWAY.

The story begins as Jack Bauer is released from a Chinese prison, where he had been tortured for two years, and is only a shell of the man he once was. However, he was released only to be turned over to terrorists, in an attempt to bargain for the lives of thousands of US citizens. The terrorists handcuffed Jack to a chair, and proceeded to stab him with knives and long needles, pouring acid on the open wounds. Just as a terrorist was about to cut off one of Jack's fingers, he received a phone call, drawing him away from the room. While his interrogator was out of the room, Jack managed to yank the heart rate monitor from his arm, causing the monitor to flatline. Thinking he had died, his captor came to check on him. As he leaned over to examine the monitor, Jack suddenly head-butted him, and then sank his teeth into the man's jugular, killing him in a creative, if gruesome, fashion.

What does this have to do with anything you may ask, especially in a Bible school? Allow me to explain, as my teacher did. You see, Jack Bauer does not see the world in the same way as a normal human does. Where most people would see their impending death, with no chance of escape, Jack saw opportunity. It is because he is able to view events and situations from a different perspective that he is able to save his own life time after time. Where others see nothing but despair, Jack sees hope. In much the same way, we as Christians are called to view the world from a different perspective. For example, where society sees a wedding as revolving around the latest fashions and decorations as bridal shows will attest to (which, incidentally, is a field trip offered in this class, one which I will not participate in), the Christian sees a wedding as a celebration of the entering into a covenant relationship between two people. Christians are called to view people as Jesus views them: with compassion and love, not judgment and condemnation. Once again, this relates to my practicum at the Mustard Seed this semester, as I must look past outer appearances and habits and view the street people as my fellow brothers and sisters. So far, this has been much easier than anticipated, although I have only worked there for a grand total of one afternoon now. So there you have it: a lesson in Christianity learned from a one-man killing machine.

Back to School...

2007-01-14T22:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I've now made it through most of a week of school this semester. I had a really enjoyable holidays, spending time with family and hanging out with close friends. But its good to be back in school now...we'll see how long that feeling lasts. This semester is shaping up to be even better than the first, as I am in some more interesting courses now that I've completed some of the first year prerequisites. However, it will be an extremely busy semester, as I have 5 courses, practicum, and a skiriffic band to throw together.

I began my practicum at the Mustard Seed today, and even though it will take up my entire Sunday afternoons for the next 12 weeks or so, I don't think that it will be something that I dread going to. Along with two other students from the school, we are working alongside the chaplain and assisting him with the worship services at the Seed. It does not appear that it will be terribly work intensive, which is good, as I have enough on the go this semester.

Today was our first day, and much of it was spent simply getting aquainted with the place and learning what goes on Sunday afternoons. We got there just in time to witness them serving lunch to the homeless. Our first task was simply to hang out with the people and talk to them. Following the meal, we then helped clean up and set up for the church service, which about 50 or so people attended. The service was fairly basic: it consisted of a guy leading worship with his acoustic guitar, followed by a sermon preached using simplistic language, which I found quite interesting, much more so than many sermons preached to a mature Christian congregation. After the service was another chance to talk to the people, as coffee and dessert was served. I think that I will really enjoy this practicum, as much of it consists simply of building relationships with the people at the shelter. It is exciting to be able to sit down and chat with these people without; despite the fact that we are physically better off than them, they in no way viewed us with any contempt or jealousy.

These are the people that society for the most part rejects and avoids at all costs. People come under the misconception that street people are somehow sub-human, and that we need not show kindness to them because their own actions are what led to their present circumstances. While it is obviously true that many of them do suffer with various addictions, they are also capable of showing love and acceptance, much more so than many of the 'normal' people you may encounter working their 9-5 jobs.

Recently, I purchased the bood 'A Ragamuffin Gospel' by Brennan Manning. So far, I have only had the time to read the first chapter, but his writing relates directly to this situation. He writes:

"Jesus comes for sinners, for those as outcast as tax collectors and for those caught up in squalid choices and failed dreams. He comes for corporate executives, street people, superstars, farmers, hookers, addicts, IRS agents, AIDS victims, and even used-car salesmen. Jesus not only talks with these people but dines with them - fully aware that His table fellowship with sinners will raise the eyebrows of religious bureaucrats who hold up the robes and insignia of their authority to justify their condemnation of the truth and their rejection of the gospel of grace."

And that, I believe, is the essence of my work at the Mustard Seed.

A Quote

2006-12-15T12:06:00.000-07:00

Here is a short quote from my philosophy class that I think effectively describes how Christianity can become stale in today's society:

"...for our age is not willing to stop with faith, with its miracle of turning water into wine, it goes further, it turns wine into water." - Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)

It appears that our faith easily becomes dry and dead when we attempt to find a logical explanation for everything, rather than simply being in awe of who God is. Just a quick thought that came to me as I was studying for my philosophy final exam.

A Crazy Night in Calgary's Red Light District

2006-12-09T12:45:00.000-07:00

Before you go ahead and jump to any conclusions, let me explain. Yes, a bunch of us guys did pay a visit to one of the shadiest areas of town the other night. But no, we were not there seeking a good time. Instead, we were there to pass out sandwiches to the homeless people that frequent the area.

Things started off well enough. We met one man outside a hotel of ill-repute, and his first question to us was whether we were Christians. Upon hearing our reply, he seemed rather excited, and told us that he too believed in the Lord. So we gave him a couple of sandwiches, prayed for him, and were on our way. This experience was particularly encouraging, as it showed that Christians had a positive influence on this man in the past. So many times the Christians can get a bad name outside the church due to over-zealous campaigns to convert and condemn. However, this was not the case with this man, as he clearly viewed Christians with a great deal of respect. So many Christians get so caught up in the bureaucaracy and institutionalization of the church that they neglect to reach out to the community around them. However, all Christians, not just 'missionaries' and 'ministers' are called to reach out to the needy around them.

About 30 seconds after this great experience things took a turn for the worse. As me and a couple of my friends were standing at the street corner waiting for the crossing light to change, a man of African-American/Jamaican ancestry approached us. From his fur lined coat and all his gold jewellery, it was pretty obvious that he was a drug dealer or worse. He walked up to us and mumbled something about a $50 trespassing fine. Being the small town guys that we were, me and my one roommate figured the guy had been caught trespassing, and said something along the lines of "oh, that sucks man," thinking he wanted some money to help pay off his fine.

However, the guy was fairly insistent, and told us that we were on private property. Still being rather naive, I looked around and saw no signs or fences denoting the sidewalk we were standing on was private property. Finally, we clued in to what was going on when he said, "No, you's trespassin'. This is my property!" At that moment the fear hit, as we had no idea what he would do to us, being in such a rough neighborhood and all. So what did we do? We committed the crime of jaywalking and hurried across the street. Kind of an anti-climatic ending to our story, but it doesn't change the fact that we almost soiled ourselves in fear. Unlike the earlier experience, I had no big lessons learned from this incident, other than to never again venture into certain areas of town at night. However, I figured the story was worthy of a blog. That should give you a little glimpse into what our life is like living in the ghetto of Calgary.

Exciting News!!!

2006-11-24T12:58:00.000-07:00

I just thought I would very briefly let you know what happened in one of my classes today. Anyways, while I was sitting there almost paying attention, I ordered a pair of tickets to go see Eric Clapton!!!!!!!!!!! Probably the best class ever. Now I just have to wait until March for the show...

Fun at Boston Pizza (a story not for those with weak stomachs!)

2006-11-12T01:23:00.000-07:00

For those of you who were wondering, no, I'm not dead. I just have lacked the motivation to blog regularly these days. Its not that I haven't had worthwhile thoughts to share, it just that all those thoughts get put down in my papers, so I'm to lazy to share them here. So instead, I will choose to relate to you a story that happened to me a couple weeks back, which is more humorous than anything.

The story all begins one Sunday night, as a group of us were returning from a worship service at a church across the city. Being guys, naturally our first thought was of food, so we decided to pick a C-train stop and find a place to eat. We had neglected to consider just how cold it was that night. The wind went through us like a hockey player goes through the Calgary Flames' defense. As I would shortly discover, the wind was not the only thing about to go right through me that night.

So anyways, after nearly succumbing to frostbite, we finally stumbled into a warm Boston Pizza. Now there is something you should know about me and BP's: there is something in the food there that gets along with my bowels about as well as George Bush gets along with Saddam Hussein (I'm just full of great metaphors tonight!). Just keep that fact in mind throughout this story.

Our meal was great, I had a buffalo chicken sandwich with fries and a Pepsi. Good times were had by all. After the meal, it was time to begin the long and arduous trek back to the transit station, which was farther away than any of us would have liked. We had walked about two blocks when I felt a pain in my lower intestines similar to being stabbed with a trident. This was not good, and made walking even more difficult. As the station came in sight, we realized that we had to run to catch the train and avoid further freezing of our limbs. We were freezing faster than an American in Canada. Needless to say, I brought up the rear, having considerable difficulty. I think I must have resembled a penguin trying to run; a 215 pound penguin in a giant winter jacket. Somehow I miraculously made it down the long flight of stairs and into the station, where we caught the train.

My situation only got worse once on the train. With every bump and stop, the pressure increases. I had more pressure built up inside of me than Mt. St. Helen's just before it exploded, only without the clouds of ash. Finally it came time to transfer trains. At this point I honestly could not stand up, and was doing my best impression of the Hoover Dam holding back the floodwaters. I almost cried at the thought of having to stay on the train and miss our stop. Just after the train came to a complete stop, I heard a couple gurgles in my duodenum (part of the small intestine, for those of you who never took biology), and was able to shuffle to the next train. By the time we reached the end of the line, my inconsiderate friends were out of control with laughter at my expense. My one roommate laughed so hard that he vomited all over the train platform. To make a long story slightly less long, I eventually made it back to my apartment (where we have the softest toilet paper in res!) and put an end to my misery. The song Eruption by Van Halen would have been a fitting soundtrack.

Tales Out of School

2006-09-30T13:25:00.000-06:00

So far, this month has been an incredible time for me as I've once again become a student. Our entire floor continues to bond, and it takes Christian fellowship to a whole new level, one not experienced in too many churches today. Case in point was our last floor meeting. Usually we do things at floor meetings like play with airsoft guns or turn our hallway into a giant slip 'n slide, but this week we simply spent a couple hours in worship and prayer for each other. It was powerful just to see everybody so open and honest, and to see everybody rally around each other in prayer. It was also encouraging for me to have all the guys pray for me, as I have been working out some things in my own life these past couple of weeks, and once again attempting to put God at the center of my life.

We also have our share of fun. Last Sunday we headed out to the park to play some intramural flag football. Our team consists mostly of members of Gerry Hall (our floor), and we had to play against the Nazarene University College, who hasn't lost a game in the past 3 years or more. The final result: we lost by one convert in overtime. They were getting pretty frustrated that we could hold our own against them, not to mention at least one instance where one of their members was crushed and sent flying onto his back. For a game of flag football, things got pretty intense.

Last night was the first exhibition game for our school's hockey team, against our cross-town rivals from Rocky Mountain Bible College. It took us freshmen no time at all to pick up on the rivalry. A couple of us got all painted up in blue, white, and yellow, our team colors. It was a loud game. Despite the stupid no fighting/hitting rule, what us Bible school students really wanted to see was somebody getting clobbered with an open ice hit, or a fight, etc. It was a losing effort for our side, as we lost 5-2. However, every now and then our fans would start the cheer, "That's alright, that's ok, cause we're gonna own your school someday!" This may not be too far from the truth, but apparently we're not supposed to use that cheer until at least later on in the season. Anyways, tonight a couple of us are off to a Stabilo concert at SAIT, which should be good times. That should be proof enough that the life of a student isn't all classes and studying.

Day 9: August 13, 2006

2006-09-23T23:29:00.000-06:00

Arequipa/Camp la Joya

This morning we went to Arequipa for church. The church was about 200 people or so, and Chris preached on David and Goliath.

In the evening we went to church in San Luis. The church was about the size of a mobile home, and had a roof made from cane/bamboo. The church was absolutely packed. It was cool to just be a part of it, as all of our new Peruvian friends were there. It really makes all the different denominations of churches in Canada seem somewhat meaningless, as we are all one body in Christ, regardless of language or culture.

Day 8: August 12, 2006

2006-09-21T21:12:00.000-06:00

Camp la Joya

What a difference good health makes! It was an early morning for us, as we had to pour the cement for the cabin walls. We did it in record time, as there were a lot of Peruvians and Canadians working together. There was real comradeship, which was very evident when we finished, as Owen was spraying everyone with the hose and a water fight broke out. We were all laughing and having a great time. After that, all of us retired to the pool to cool down. Pretty much everyone who was working construction ended up in the pool, whether by choice or not.

In the afternoon me and Jamie went lizard hunting with two of the Peruvian kids We ended up catching three of the speedy little lizards.

After that we had a rematch of soccer, Canada vs. Peru. Once again, we lost badly, even with our 5 subs to their none. What has struck me most today was how despite our language barriers, we have really been able to bond with the Peruvians. We are now more like one big happy family, rather than us being a bunch of foreigners coming to serve them. I think that when we leave here they will be missed more than we have been missing those back home during our stay here.

Quote of the Day:
"God will pour out a dump truck full of love into your life."
- Rev. Chris Nichol

Day 7: August 11, 2006

2006-09-21T00:05:00.000-06:00

I know its been quite some time, but I will finally continue my retelling of my journey through Peru. Enjoy!

Camp la Joya

Today was another day spent in bed, as I was ordered not to work, and to spend the day recovering. Apparently it worked, thanks in part to my good friend Imodium and the prayers of my teammates.

On my way up to supper, I came across a young boy who was crying, as the irrigation ditch had sprung a leak and was flooding the field where he was watching the cows. So I went back and helped him dam up the leak. It just felt good to be able to lend a hand after being useless due to sickness for two days.

In the evening we hosted an outreach and showed a Billy Graham film. Afterwards I met up with my little buddy Rivaldo (I think thats how its spelled), and was forced to carry him on around my back, as he pretended to be riding a horse.

One thing that has really struck me about the Peruvians is how happy they are with so little. These guys have so little, yet they work hard all day, and then after a long day of work still have the energy to beat us at soccer. They are also an extremely friendly people. Canadians are supposedly very friendly, but we have nothing compared to the Peruvians. Even if you don't understand the language, they will still come up and talk to you, especially the children. It is just a real pleasure and an honor to be around them.

An Oilers Fan in Calgary

2006-09-11T21:35:00.000-06:00

I figured that now was a good time to interupt my Peru blogs to update all of you on my life in hockey/football championship-challenged city of Calgary. The move went smoothly, as I am now comfortably moved in to my apartment in residence here in downtown Calgary. It would be better if Telus could get their act together and hook up our phones and internet soon, but I won't get into that. We have a small apartment, with two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom. We moved all the beds into one room, turning the other one into our office. For reasons that I cannot comprehend, I ended up with a top bunk, despite being the largest guy in our apartment. While other students have been feasting on Kraft Dinner and Mr. Noodles, we have been eating tacos, frying burgers on my George Foreman Grill (the lean, mean, fat-reducing grilling machine), and cooking up massive amounts of chicken alfredo. Funny how many of my blogs relate back to food.

The location of our residence is close to all the major necessities, including grocery stores and the C-train station. There is a park with a giant skate park and several beach volleyball courts located half a block away. For our slurpee needs, there is a nearby Macs store nicknamed the 'Crack Macs' for all of the drug dealers who hang out in the area. It is not uncommon for us to be offered drugs on the street. Despite it being a rough neighborhood at night, it doesn't scare me in the least.

So far I have been enjoying my classes, at least for all 3 class days I have endured so far. My five classes are Philosophy, Intro to the Bible, Intro to Missions and Evangelism, Effective Writing, and a Practicum (field education) course. So far I have found all my profs to be interesting, even if some of the assignments won't be. For example, I have no desire to participate in the assignment that has us going door to door evangelizing. I simply do not believe that this is an effective method in North America, as I believe it can give the church a bad name. Just my opinion, not something I'm gonna discuss in detail at this point.

One last thing I want to mention: I have never done so much walking in my entire life! The C-train only goes so many places. Not to mention that living on the third floor, there are 7 flights of stairs to climb when I don't take the elevator. I can almost feel myself wasting away to nothing. Well, maybe if there wasn't a kitchen full of food at the end of the stairs. So anyways, visitors are always welcome if you're ever in Calgary, although I can't promise a place to stay. We have very limited space. So I will conclude in true northern Alberta fashion with a loud and proud LET'S GO OILERS!

Day 6: August 10,2006

2006-08-31T00:30:00.000-06:00

Camp la Joya

SICK! That about sums up my day. The day started with a little excitement, as somebody poisoned one of the camp's dogs last night. After that my day consisted of naps between trips to the bathroom. 27 trips on the day, to be exact. I will never again take 2-ply toilet paper for granted, as all I could think about was Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire". I figured out that at this point I was the fifteenth team member to get sick. Not a fun day. In the evening we had a games night, and us Canadians got schooled by the Peruvians at soccer. I didn't play, for obvious reasons. After it was over and I was very slowly making my way to my bed, three of the Peruvian men met up with me on the path. After learning that I was feeling sick, they accompanied me on my trudging journey to the cabin, which I found comforting and encouraging, as they hardly knew me, yet were still concerned about my well-being. And thus ended the worst day of the trip.

Day 5: August 9, 2006

2006-08-29T19:46:00.000-06:00

Camp la Joya

Today was another day of work, although it was much easier than yesterday. All we had to do was put up the rebar for the cabin walls and haul away brush. The team has been dropping like flies as Montezuma has been making his rounds and taking his revenge.

In the evening we hosted a men's night, with worship, testimonies, games, and food. However, I was not a part of it, as me and Jamie were playing with the kids all evening. This was the most rewarding experience of the trip so far for me. The Peruvian kids are just so incredibly happy and energetic, and are not the least bit shy around us gringos from Canada. One of the boys tried to get me to go up to his sister (who was FAR younger than me) and ask, "A kiss, my love?" For obvious reasons I refused, although I found it rather amusing. I think that I learned more Spanish attempting to talk with the kids than I have all trip. We even got a 3-on-3 soccer game going, and us Canadians (me and Jamie) were clearly outclassed. It just struck me how happy these kids are, even though they come from poor families and probably have few toys except for a soccer ball.

After that we joined the others, who were sitting around talking with the Peruvian men. They made up nicknames for some of us, with Newman being "King Kong" and Anton being "Jackie Chan". Jamie was "Mike Tyson". Once again it was another awesome day in Peru.

Day 4: August 8,2006

2006-08-28T21:17:00.000-06:00

Camp la Joya

Dust, dust, and more dust. That pretty much sums up the day. It was our first day of work. I spent the day mixing cement, raking bamboo/cane, working with rebar, and hauling rocks. Since we have limited Spanish, our conversations with the Peruvian workers were therefore also limited. We worked with Freddie, Raoul, Alsidas, and Washington. Peruvians are an extremely hard working people, and put most Canadians to shame. After work, icy cold showers washed away the layers of concrete and dust. Not much else happened today, as we basically just worked on the new cabins. The only other interesting thing that I saw was about 20 massive condors (up to an 11 foot wingspan) circling something atop one of the mountains. Montezuma's Revenge claimed its first victim of our group today.

Day 3: August 7, 2006

2006-08-21T16:33:00.000-06:00

Arequipa

After eating breakfast at Martha's house, we left for a missionaries' (van Pelt's) house for a meeting with other missionaries from England, Germany, Switzerland, and Canada. Then we had a game of "The Amazing Race: Arequipa Edition". We were divided into teams of 3 or 4, and raced through the city in tiny taxis. Once again traffic was crazy, as there are no traffic signs or lanes on most roads, so anything goes. Pedestrians do not have the right of way, so crossing the street is like the old video game Frogger. We saw several beautiful stone cathedrals, and I got to feed a llama. After lunch I had an extremely close call with Montezuma's Revenge, but I somehow managed to pull through.

Camp la Joya

The trip to Camp la Joya was an hour long ride in a rickety old school bus. The winding, narrow roads ran alongside deep canyons for most of the trip, and only rarely were there any guard rails. Not to mention our bus was passing other buses/cars/trucks on hairpin turns, with only a few feet separating us from the steep drops. For somebody who was afraid of heights like Sari, it was a rather nervous adventure. However, we made it to Camp la Joya safe and sound.

The camp is much greener than the desolation we drove through on the way to the camp. Although in the middle of the desert, along with random large billboards, there were many small brick or thatch shacks that were smaller than my bedroom back home. How those people survived out there on so little, I have no idea. The camp is located in a valley by a river, surrounded by steep cliffs/mountains. At night, the stars are simply breathtaking, as we are so far from any major cities and there is no pollution.

Some funny/interesting things that happened today:
1) I got to drink coca tea (made from the plant we get cocaine from). There is also another type of tea called anis tea.
2) Found a dog sleeping in Newman's bed in our cabin, with its butt sticking out from under the sleeping bag where a pillow should be.
3) Chris got yelled at for farting in public (it was absolutely hilarious!).

Day 2: August 6, 2006

2006-08-20T23:54:00.000-06:00

Lima

Woke up this morning and, after surviving the electrical shower of death, enjoyed a breakfast consisting mainly of foreign (to me, at least) fruit, some of which came from a cactus.

For church we attended Gracia Calvary Chapel, a small church located on the third floor of a building, right above a gym. Despite my not knowing the language, I felt right at home; like I belonged. Most of the songs were familiar, allowing me to stumble along in my broken Spanish. The worship team was incredible, especially considering the relatively small size of the church. I was awed at how the common bond of Christ supercedes any cultural or language barriers. I think that I felt more welcomed and at home than I do in most North American churches. The church felt so much more alive, and we were even able to witness a young man give his life to Christ at the end of the service. I think it is safe to say that I will miss that little church and the joy that they have.

Arequipa

The difference between Lima and Arequipa is like night and day. Lima is fast paced and hectic (especially the traffic), the air is hard to breathe from pollution, the weather is hot and humid, and there is always an incessant buzz in the air. Arequipa is much more relaxed and laid back, the air is crisp and clean, the weather is warm and dry, and there is a blanketing hush in the air. The streets have many speed bumps to further reduce the flow of traffic. Like Lima, every house is surrounded by high walls topped with barbed wire and/or spikes to keep thieves out.

The house that we are staying in is awesome! It has an open air courtyard, and a large flat roof that we can hang out on. We all had supper at some missionaries' home, and the evening was filled with broken conversations in both English and Spanish. And thus ended our first full day in Peru.

Day 1: August 5, 2006

2006-08-19T21:49:00.000-06:00

I am back in Canada at long last after an incredible two weeks in Peru. For those of you not fortunate enough to have shared in this amazing experience, I will attempt to recreate some of the events of my trip by publishing my daily journal entries from my trip. My first entry is not terribly deep or exciting, it is just a list of first impressions and events from the trip from Calgary to Houston to Lima.

Houston, Texas

1) Ever since entering Texas airspace, I had the theme song from "Walker, Texas Ranger" running through my head. I then saw a guy wearing a Chuck Norris t-shirt in the Houston airport, which I found rather amusing.
2) I ate a lunch of catfish, hush puppies (like cornbread), and waffle fries at a place called Bubba's Bayou Grill. Our waitress kept saying "y'all"! The restaurant also served wine that was flavored with a hint of tobacco and smoked bacon.

Lima, Peru

1) Took first breath of "fresh" air outside the airport and realized that I was not in Canada anymore. Gotta love the taste of diesel!
2) I never want to drive here! Traffic lanes are relatively narrow, with very few traffic control signs that I could see (few YIELD, STOP, speed limit signs). Drivers instead rely heavily on their horns.
3) Buildings are box-like and stacked, reminding me of Lego creations. Even a McDonald's was 3 stories high!
4) On the trip from the airport to the mission guesthouse, buildings changed in style every couple of blocks. They went from run-down stacked box-like structures to the flashing neons of night clubs/discos/casinos to modern highrise apartments and office buildings to large Spanish style houses all in one trip.
5) My heart broke seeing some of the people begging on the streets. At one stoplight, a young girl approached our bus trying to sell us some old tennis balls to make a little money.
6) It was a strange sight seeing the streets lined with towering palm trees, yet having the Andes Mountains visible in the distance.
7) Upon arrival at the guesthouse, we were warned not to touch the shower-head when using hot water, with the consequence being death. Apparently most houses here are not grounded, and the electric water heater could cause problems in the shower. Toilet paper must also be placed in garbage cans and not flushed, as Lima is a huge city of 11,000,000 people. The consequences of your actions sure are dire here!
8) I got my first sleep in over 36 hours tonight!!!
9) Bands and songs heard on the radio while on the bus: U2, The Police, Bryan Adams, Turning Japanese...
10) Traveled from summer to winter in a single day.

So there you have it, some tidbits of information from my first day in Peru. The rest of my journal entries are to follow at later dates. Thanks again for all of your prayers and support!

Simple Truths

2006-07-24T20:35:00.000-06:00

As I promised earlier, I will now share something that God showed me at camp. This may seem like a very elementary level lesson, but I believe we often need to be reminded of the simple truths. Something the speaker said at camp one morning really struck me, as if I had been overlooking something very basic for a long time. What he said was something like this: "Imagine a hand so large that it stretches across the entire sky. Now imagine the size of the body that goes along with that hand, and you will begin to catch a minute glimpse of just how great and powerful our God is." This is a simple truth that every child learns through songs in Sunday school, yet for whatever reason, I had began to overlook or take for granted this very basic concept. I think in my case the idea of Jesus residing within my heart was so ingrained in my mind that I failed to recognize the vastness and power of God. I still don't claim to even come close to wrapping my mind around this concept, but it is a humbling experience everytime we are reminded of these simple truths.

I think that David grasped this concept when he wrote: "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; He puts the deep into storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere Him. For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm." (Psalm 33:6-9)

All of this causes me to ask myself 'If I truly believe that God is so great and powerful, why is it that I have such difficulty wholly entrusting my life to His hands, especially in regards to what the future may hold?' It is not an easy thing for me to put aside any hopes and dreams that I may have and just sit back and let God plan my future. It can even be downright frustrating at times not knowing what the future holds in store for me. But when you think about, who better to provide for you than the almighty Creator of the universe? I think that when we forget about the vastness of God and try and place Him in our own pre-conceived boxes of thought is when worry begins to enter our lives. The issue of completely surrendering my will to His is one that I am continually grappling with, but deep down I know that the best life for me is the one in which God has in store for me, not necessarily the one I think I need. Anyways, just goes to show that with all of our theology and beliefs, it all boils down to some very simple truths, truths worth being reminded of.

Sleep-Deprived Ramblings From Camp

2006-07-15T23:10:00.000-06:00

What a week! I just got back last night from an intense, painful, and hugely fun week of jr. teen camp. In this blog I will attempt to recount some of the events of the week, for those of you not fortunate enough to be a part of it. Despite what the picture to the left may look like, most of us did actually shower throughout the week. Also, I did not shrink in size to Rae Ann's height, I merely ducked down so we could fit in the same picture. Over all, it was a most excellent week for me, as I had a great time with both the campers and the counselors. It was a slightly strange experience counseling with guys whom I had counseled just a few short years ago, but at the same time was exciting to see how much they've grown since then. Those counselors who were not previously aquainted with the Cold Lake/Vermilion crowd had to get used to our unique sense of humor in a hurry.

As I said earlier, the past week at camp was a painful one for me, as I seemed to injure myself on a daily basis. The very first night I wrecked my neck and back carrying around my junior couselor on my shoulders (pictured at left) during the first game. Despite our best efforts, our team still lost. Another injury occured while shooting a basketball around. I went in for a lay-up, and in mid flight, my right knee be came well acquainted with the pole supporting the backboard. But my pain was not finished for the day, as shortly afterwards I was entered into the soccer tournament (in which we lost by a goal in the finals, I might add). My body was simply not meant to run around a field chasing a black and white ball for an extended period of time. This wouldn't have been so bad, had I not desired to win so greatly that I sacrificed my body on numerous occasions and ran like a wild honeymoon stallion that had just been tamed. By the end, I vowed to never take breathing for granted ever again, as I was on the verge of passing out right there on the field. Another time, my leg got cut up while cleaning the girls side of the shower house when I broke a mirror and had it shatter into thousands of sharp shards of glass. I had only some minor bleeding scrapes, but the nurse proceeded to wrap my leg up like an Egyptian mummy for reasons unknown. The final injury that comes to mind occurred while out canoeing. Me and my junior counselor Warren decided that we would try and see how long we could last while standing on the seats of the canoe and rocking it. We lasted about five seconds, before we both bailed, and I smashed my elbow on the canoe as it flipped and landed on top of me. Although my body took a beating this week, at least I didn't run into a barbed wire fence like somebody else who will go un-named for their sake.

It was also a very exciting week in terms of what God accomplished in the lives of the campers. I know of at least two guys who made first time committments, and at least one other who wants to be baptized, and that was from my cabin alone. I know that there were many other comittments made in the other cabins. It actually came as a surprise to me, as for the entire week we failed to get them talking about spiritual matters of any sort. But anyways, those are just some of the many things that took place at Belle View this past week, and most certainly will not be my last blog about camp. Go Cabin 7!

Adventures In Being Huge

2006-07-04T23:36:00.000-06:00

If the above photo is not a picture of pure determination, I don't know what is. Yesterday I had the privelege to join a friend of mine for a fun-filled day on the lake, doing some tubing and water-skiing. The first (tubing), was a successful endeavor, despite being sent skimming across the water for a good ways after wiping out and almost losing my shorts in the process. The latter (water skiing) was a valiant attempt on my part.

I gave it my best effort, not having realized how difficult of a sport water-skiing is (my friends made it seem so effortless!). After about 5-10 minutes, I was already exhausted, and if I hadn't been in the water, would probably be reduced to little more than a puddle of sweat. It was a little painful at times, and I realized just how little flexibility a guy of my substantial size has. And that was just my numerous attempts to get the skis onto my feet.

Next came the part of trying to remain upright while waiting for the boat to pull me out of the water. If you thought I was a little top-heavy on land, you should see me in the water with a pair of skis on, as I repeatedly kept rolling onto my side, a postion that might give me a face full of water, but would definitely not allow me to start skiing. Once I mastered that, I was ready to go.

Unfortunately for me, though my mind was willing, my body wasn't. Time and time again I desperately tried to get up out of the water on my two skis, but some things just aren't meant to be. Towards the end of the whole ordeal, I had inhaled so much water up my nose during my many wipeouts that I feared the lake would become too shallow for others to use, so I called it a day. I am not one who enjoys admitting defeat, but there are some things a guy like me apparently just isn't meant to do, and I can accept that fact. Further evidence of this is the fact that today I have somewhat lost the use of my arms and shoulders, as I discovered that I have many muscles that had been dormant all these years. Once again, I am huge. But I'd do it all again in a heartbeat, as there is no better way to spend a long weekend than in the company of friends, especially if those friends have a boat. So there you have it, my first installment of what I like to call Adventures In Being Huge.

Let The Good Times Roll!

2006-06-26T23:28:00.000-06:00

It is now time for my first official post-playoff post, now that the bitter tears have dried on my pillow. A while back I shared the following passage, saying that after a year of trials and struggles (this was two years ago, when I was in grade 12), I just felt that God was about to pour out His many blessings on me. Here is the verse:

"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." James 1:12

I would just like to take this time to share some of the many blessings that God has showered upon me, and express my gratitude to Him because of it. So here goes...

1) He has provided me with a well paying job for this past year at National Oilwell Varco, that has allowed me to save a fair bit of money to go against my tuition. The job may not be glamorous, but it is rewarding to see the influence that I can exert on the other guys in the shop.

2) He has provided me with several scholarships that will completely cover the cost of my first semester this fall.

3) He has provided me with a couple of close friends to be my roommates (Andrew and Tyson) when I move to Calgary in September.

4) He has enabled me to be able to get a week off of work (paid, no less!) in order to counsel at camp this summer.

5) He has provided me with the opportunity to experience Himself afresh as I travel to Peru on a missions trip this August.

6) He has provided me with a strong Christian family and close Christian friends throughout my entire life.

These are just some of the many blessings that I have experienced lately, and I praise God for all of them. The verse I quoted at the beginning of this blog has taken on new meaning for me, as I have experienced both sides of the situation. Its like the song says, "Though the sorrow may last through the night, His joy comes in the morning!" Or, to quote the same line from the modified version that my old band wrote at camp, "Though our hearts may not last through the night, BREAKFAST COMES IN THE MORNING!!!!!"

Thanks For The Memories, Edmonton!

2006-06-19T22:14:00.000-06:00

Well, tonight obviously did not turn out as I had hoped, as the Hurricanes managed to hang on in game seven to win the Stanley Cup. So for all of you non-Oilers fans who read my blog, you can breathe a sigh of relief, as this marks the end of my hockey analogies for a while. Surprisingly, I am not nearly as upset as I thought I would be; disappointed, most definitely, but its not the end of the world. In a way, it is a relief that the playoffs are finally over, as I can finally move on with my life. It is summer, after all, and I have so many greater things to look forward to. So for any of you Flames fans out there, I guess we are now even, with both our teams choking in game 7 of the finals to a team from a city that should never even have a hockey team. However, if you're expecting me to say something nice about the Hurricanes, don't count on it. Ok, I guess they do have some pretty cheerleaders, but seriously, this is hockey, and fans shouldn't need any motivation to cheer. All in all, I can say that I am extremely proud of my Oilers, and will continue to stand by them no matter what. HEY EDMONTON, THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES! WE'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE.

FERNANDO!

2006-06-17T21:39:00.000-06:00

There was something in the air tonight
The stars were bright, Fernando
They were shining there for you and me
For liberty, Fernando
Though we never thought that we could lose
There's no regret
If I had to so the same again
I would my friend, Fernando
If I had to do the same again
I would my friend, Fernando

*This is an exerpt of the song "Fernando" by the band ABBA, but is fitting in light of recent playoff victories.

Guilty As Charged?

2006-06-15T22:46:00.000-06:00

It's been a little while since my last posting, so I figured that I had better write something new so as not to disappoint those of you who read my blog regularly. I wish I could say that I have some new revelations to share with you, but as of late, I have been rather uninspired. Instead, I will share with you something that I learned some time ago, and was reminded of once again the other night while in discussion with a friend. However, I cannot take credit for these ideas, as I first heard them from somebody whose opinion is apparently worth five cents. So here goes...

The topic of the day is guilt. I am not talking guilt as it may pertain to a death row inmate or even to a hockey player charged with a two minute minor for hooking (my only hockey analogy, I promise!). I am talking about those recurring feelings of guilt that so often plague us long after we have sought out forgiveness for our actions. This was something that used to cause me a lot of anguish, and still rears its ugly head from time to time. It is the feeling that even though we have apologized and sought to make things right, that it just isn't good enough.

One night, I believe it was at our youth service, Chris exposed these feelings for what they really are: lies of the Enemy. You see, as long as we are so caught up in feeling guilty and beating up on ourselves, our focus is not on God, but on ourselves, as is all too often the case. "Feelings" of guilt, and I say feelings because once Christ has forgiven us, our slate is wiped clean, blind us so much so that we fail to see God waiting with outstretched arms to welcome us back; blind to the forgiveness that He so freely gives. I believe that when we dwell on our guilt, it is because we are unable to forgive ourselves, plain and simple. The truth is, how we feel does not change the fact that God has forgiven us, but not without a great sacrifice. The very least we can do is follow His example and forgive ourselves.

I am not talking about the conviction of the Holy Spirit here, as that is vitally important in our lives. The Holy Spirit will convict us when we stumble, but once we seek out forgiveness, does not haunt our minds with feelings of shame and guilt. I believe that this is where the distinction must be made, and once we come to this realization, will allow us to move on in our lives as we fix our eyes upon Jesus.

These 3 Things We Pray, Day, By Day, By Day, By Day...

2006-05-29T22:34:00.000-06:00

Lately I have been pondering the topic of prayer, and its purpose in our lives. This may be a fitting topic, as lately I have been sending up many prayers courtesy of the Oilers (and for those of you non-hockey fans, rest easy, as that is the extent of my hockey talk for the duration of this blog). There are some passages in the Bible that seemingly make our prayers as needless (I am not saying that they are), but they made me think about why we pray. Romans 8:26 says, "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." From this passage, it would appear that regardless of whether we choose to pray or not, our requests are still being brought before God. And God, being all knowing, knows our thoughts even before we think them, and knows our every need. So this begs the question: Why pray, if everything is already known to God, as He is able to accomplish His will regardless? I have several ideas on this topic.

My first thought is that prayer is what builds and maintains a close relationship with Jesus Christ. It is impossible to carry on a healthy relationship without communication. I even know this fact, being a single guy and all! It's really a very simple concept. One of the central goals of Jesus' death on the cross was so that us humans would be able to once again have a personal relationship with God, instead of having to always go through a priest. When God created Adam and Eve, he had a personal relationship with them, and would walk with them and talk with them in the garden. If this was the environment into which the first humans were created into, obviously God desperately wants to have a loving and personal relationship with humans. So it is crucial that we keep the lines open through prayer, as that is the only way that our relationship will flourish.

My second reason for prayer is that prayer, like any form of communication, is a two way street. I firmly believe that if we our 'keeping in touch' with God, that He will in turn speak to us. He may not always speak to us when and how we wish to hear, but it will always be what we need to hear. So if you are wondering why God hasn't spoken to you for quite some time, could it maybe be simply because you haven't been spending the time to talk to Him?

My third point is that prayer helps keep us humble, as it forces us to recognize the source of all we enjoy here on earth. When we thank God for the many blessings that He has showered upon us, it is acknowledging that all we have is not the result of our own sweat and toil. Even if this appears to be the case, just remember who enabled you to be able to sweat and toil to earn a living. James 4:10 says, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up." It is through a humble and grateful heart that God can accomplish His greatest works.

My last thoughts on this topic revolves around the parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8), who day after day would petition her cause before the judge, until one day, the judge granted her plea for justice. He did not grant her wish because he believed in God, or even because he necessarily believed in her cause. He granted her pleas because she was persistent, never giving up. I am not quite sure on the correct interpretation of this parable, but I believe that it teaches us not to ever give up praying about something. I do not think that it means that if you pray every day for that shiny red Corvette or the house with a pool that God will eventually grant you these wishes (although He very well could). I do believe that it is a form of encouragement, that if we are faced with a tough situation in life, that God will hear our cries out to Him. I welcome any thoughts or ideas that you may have on this topic.

Duck Season Is Over!

2006-05-29T16:50:00.000-06:00

More From Our Lady Peace...

2006-05-15T19:47:00.000-06:00

As I promised in an earlier blog, here are some pics from the OLP show a couple weeks ago:

Picture #1: Can't you see the excitement on our faces? (actually, we were half asleep during the opening bands in this pic!)

Picture #2: The girls, on the other hand, had a little more enthusiasm. Or maybe they just have entirely too much fun with cameras!

Picture #3: The only opening band that we actually enjoyed: Neverending White Lights.

Picture #4: Our Lady Peace finally hits the stage. It was about time!!! Only two hours into the show...

Picture #5: Raine Maida (of OLP fame) up close and personal! He actually made it all the way up to the second tier seating where we were!

Picture #6: The hand that touched Raine Maida...

Picture #7: A couple of thoroughly impressed concert-goers. Until next time...

Oilers 6, Sharks 3, and Other Thoughts

2006-05-12T22:22:00.000-06:00

For those of you who are not hockey fans, I will apologize in advance, but it is playoff time in Alberta (at least in northern Alberta!), so I cannot help but let talk of the Oilers filter into my blogs. Today I would like to share my thoughts on a passage that we discussed at our youth service last week. The passage is found in Matthew 7:21-23. It reads, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" This can be an extremely frightening passage, as it reveals that a person could go through life doing the things that the Bible says please God, yet will fail to enter the kingdom of heaven. I believe that this is all the result of wrong motives and intentions. When we carry out so-called 'godly' actions for the purpose of exalting ourselves above other Christians, or to appear 'holier-than-thou' to non-believers, or even to try and earn God's great love, or maybe even because that's just how we've been raised, it simply won't cut it in God's eyes. It is only when our actions are motivated out of our love for God and our love for our fellow human beings that they amount to anything. It should be our passion and love for God and others that fuels and motivates us to follow Christ's example, as anything less and Jesus will say "I never knew you" on judgement day.

Here is where playoff fever comes into play to illustrate my thoughts. Just as a hockey players motivation should be the a great love of the greatest game on earth and the burning desire to win the Stanley Cup, to a greater extent should we be motivated by love. Take Ryan Smyth for example. In game 3 against the Sharks, he took a frozen puck off the face. After he slowly made his way to the dressing room, the rink attendants headed onto the ice with shovels to recover Smyth's missing teeth, and to clean up the trail of blood. While some lesser players would have chosen to resign for the rest of the game, no such players are found wearing the Copper 'n Blue. Smytty got stitched up, and returned to the ice, eventually helping set up the winning goal in triple overtime. Now there is a player who wears his heart on his sleeve and his teeth on the ice! His effort and dedication to his team and to the game of hockey is to be commended. If we as Christians went through life with this never-say-die attitude, and kept our focus on Christ instead of on our own selfish motives, what would the world look like? I believe that if we pursued a relationship with Jesus with this much passion, the world would have to sit up and take notice. I think that instead of being a source of ridicule for many, respect for the church as a whole would increase. Paul says that he would rather people be either white-hot or ice cold, not lukewarm. At least that way people know where you stand. I for one would like to someday hear the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant!", and rest easy in the knowledge that all I accomplished in this life was not without meaning, because hopefully I will have done everything with God's purposes in mind. I for one do not want to be disowned on judgement day. There is one more lesson that can be drawn from watching the play of #94. And the lesson is this: the mullet is a thing of beauty! GO OILERS GO!!!!

For Those About To Rock...

2006-05-03T15:11:00.000-06:00

Before I say anything else, I would just like to say: "OILERS BEAT DETROIT! WOOOOOOOO!" Now that I've got that out of my system (for now), I can begin telling you about the great time I had yesterday. You see, I got my hands on four tickets to the Our Lady Peace show at Rexall Place last night, and skipped work to head to the city with a couple good friends of mine. The trip their was rather uneventful, but I will say this much: Traffic circles are pretty much the worst invention EVER! (being the small town boy that I am). Moving on. I enjoyed a marvelous dinner at the Bul-Go-Gi House, a Korean restaurant located not far from Whyte Ave. The food was delicious, the company was delightful, and the chop-sticks were unmanageable. Try as I might, I could not master them like Mr. Myogi on the Karate Kid, and after giving it my noblest of efforts, gave up and resorted to the good ol' fork. But enough about that, as I could go on about food for hours.

We then headed off to Rexall Place for the concert, which began rather disappointly. The first two opening bands, Pedestrian and Jets Overhead, were a let-down. Not only could we not understand a word that they sang, but the music generally put us to sleep, not the kind of stuff to energize a crowd before the headlining band. The third band was much better, as Neverending White Lights took to the stage as the final opening band. Although their music was still fairly mellow, it was enjoyable. All of these bands attempted to get the crowd going about the huge Oilers victory the previous night, but being as at least one of the bands was from Canucks territory, it didn't really work all that well. And finally, it was time for Our Lady Peace to hit the stage, and WOW, what an incredible show they put on. I will share some of the highlights of the night with you.

As the tour is promoting OLP's latest album "Healthy In Paranoid Times", I kind of half expected them to just play their new stuff, which in my opinion is not as good as their earlier stuff. However, I was wrong, as they played both old and new tunes. I think that they played most of their major hits, including: Is Anybody Home?, Innocent, Superman's Dead, Clumsy, Where Are You?, Angels Losing Sleep, Somewhere Out There, 4 a.m., and many more. Needless to say, the crowd loved it.

I have never seen a band that seems to sincerely appreciate their fans in the way that OLP does. During one of the songs, as the guitarist was ripping up a solo, I heard cheering circling through the stadium like a wave. I looked over, and saw a guy in a red shirt running down the aisle around Rexall in the second tier of seating. I thought, so some crazy fan is doing something stupid, but then I looked again and realized that it was none other than Raine Maida, the lead singer from OLP! To see the lead singer of a great band in the upper levels of seating with the fans was priceless, but things got even better. He came around to where we were, and stopped directly in front of us (about two rows in front of us, or about 6 feet or so), and finished singing the song from right in front of us. If any of you happen to notice Steph's hand turning black and growing fungus, it because she actually reached out and touched Raine Maida, and as a result refuses to wash her hand. GROSS! Anyways, that was probably the best part of the show for us.

Another thing that I thought was pretty cool was for one of the songs, the band went and grabbed about twenty or thirty fans from the audience and brought them on stage behind the band, in an attempt to make it feel like a small club. They then let the crowd sing the next song (which was 4 a.m., by the way), while they accompanied all of us on their instruments.

Apparently not all artists are against downloading music on the internet. Before Our Lady Peace proceeded to play a brand new, un-released song, the grabbed some guys i-pod or cell phone with a microphone from the audience, and recorded this un-released song for him, giving him instructions to post it on the internet for everybody to download. What a classy move!

Anways, the concert, coupled with the Oilers victory over the mighty Red Wings, has made a great start to the week. I will be posting some pictures of the show as soon as I get them. So, for those about to rock... WE SALUTE YOU!

Random Ramblings

2006-04-28T23:23:00.000-06:00

Well, today I don't really have anything inspiring or intellectual to write about, so I decided to just post some assorted anecdotes about my life these days, along with some abstract questions. Let's start with what I did tonight. It is Friday night, a night that is commonly one spent hanging out with friends and/or partying it up, as it is the end of a work week. But I did none of this. Being the cool guy that I am, with nothing else to do, I went out and bought myself a computer game for my brand spanking new laptop. Now this was not just any old game. The game that I meticulously selected was none other than Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006 (Nippard, I know you're jealous!), which is pretty much the best game ever. As an unapologetic golfaholic, this was the highlight of my day. Call me a nerd, but I'm quite alright with that. Moving on...

And now I will discuss a topic that has been on my mind every day for the past week and a half or so, with that topic being the NHL Playoffs, and in particular, the Edmonton Oilers, who are currently knotted at two games apiece with the OLD Red Wings of Detroit. All I can say is, for a team that was supposed to be swept by the "best" team in the league, the Oilers are doing mighty fine. For those of you Vancouver and Toronto fans out there, I have one word for you: "FORE!" And for you Flames fans, GO DUCKS! And now for a random thought from the mind of Tyler Fehr.

Many of you may have heard the term before, but has anyone ever actually paused to consider the meaning of the term "beefcake"? Usually it is used to describe a person who is not lacking in the muscle department, but I have a different theory. I think of it as a cake, made of steak! What could possibly be better?! Except if it was garnished with bacon. Maybe this is a creation for my college days, when I get tired of Kraft Dinner.

That last thing I wish to inform you of is that I have tickets to the Our Lady Peace show in Edmonton this Tuesday! It should be a good time of hanging out with some close friends, eating some delicious food, and most importantly, not being at work for two days! Anyways, those are just a few of the thoughts running through my mind these days. Hopefully next time I will actually have something of significance to blog about. For those of you who actually read this far, I will reward your diligence with some invaluable advice pertaining to the complicated art of the pick-up line. Here is one that I have personally tried and tested: "Do you have any cold sores?" after s/he replies no, ask: "Would you like some?" If this little gem of a line doesn't work for you, try showering! Until next time, GO OILERS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Cure For What Worries You

2006-04-21T23:49:00.000-06:00

Lately, I have felt kind of like a scientist who has just reached an incredible break through, although what I have discovered is nothing new; in fact, it is much, much older than you or I, although maybe not quite as old as Chris Chelios, the dirty defenceman for the Red Wings (I am a little bitter over the Oilers loss tonight in double overtime!). While I may not have cured the common cold, discovered amoeboid life forms living on the frozen wastelands of Pluto, or even learned the art of walking, I have discovered a truth that has a significant role in my life. You see, I have discovered a cure for worry. For those of you uneducated in the area of children's stories, the picture is of Mr. Worry, a character from a series of books that I greatly enjoyed as a young child.

For those of you who have known me for quite some time, you have probably realized by now that I am a classic worrier, and always worry about every little detail in any given situation, as I like to have some control and structure in my life. This is something that has annoyed me to no end, yet until recently, I had found no way of banishing worry to, say, the damp and dank shadows of Mirkwood (for those of you J.R.R. Tolkien fans), or some other distant place. But over the past couple of months, my life has been increasingly more worry-free, and I only realized the reason for this in the past week or so.

It all has to do with placing your complete trust in God, and surrendering your life into His hands for His purposes. While I am often still guilty of trying to do things my own way, I am learning to trust God more and more instead of my own abilities. And, to my great delight, I have found that when you give up control, it is almost impossible to worry about the future, or anything for that matter, because you are not in control anymore and can do nothing to change things. When Jesus said, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6:34), I had always thought that, at least in my own life, this was an impossible task. And when we are relying on our own abilities, this is an impossible task. We will constantly be asking ourselves "What if I'm not good enough?" or "What I make a complete fool of myself?" or "What if...(fill in the blanks with any situation/question)". When we rely on ourselves, of course we will worry, cause in theory whether we are a raving success or a dismal failure depends on our actions. Yet when we place complete trust in God, we can take comfort in the fact that he has a plan for our life, and that it is the best plan. Nothing we can do of our own strength could ever add anything to God's great plan, so why worry about it? In Proverbs it says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." What a comforting thought that is!

So if you are like me and find yourself constantly worrying about everything and anything, try giving up control to God, and see what happens. I am by no means saying this is an easy or pain-free process, but it is a rewarding one. It is a process that takes a lot of time, so don't give up. But with an all-powerful God in complete control, what is there that we could possible worry about?

What is love?

2006-04-11T22:15:00.000-06:00

Contrary to the title, today's blog has absolutely nothing to do with the comedic movie "A Night At The Roxbury", and the theme song from the movie sharing the title of my blog. I would, however, like to share a little insight that I have gained into love, and not in a Dear Abbey sort of way. I will start by quoting 1 Corinthians 13, one of the better known passages of scripture.

"If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbol. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophecy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love."

These are truly great words, full of power and conviction. I have heard this passage used to describe how we are to love our family, our friends, our boyfriend/girlfriend, and husband/wife. It is also a description of God's great love for us. But there is one category of people left out from our common interpretations of this passage. How many times have you heard this passage used as an example of how we are to treat our enemies, or those people who just rub us the wrong way? Lately I have been examining this passage in my devotions, and this is the realization that hit me.

Up until recently, whenever I would read this passage, it would make me feel good about myself, as I used it as kind of a check list to determine whether I was demonstrating love in my life. As I would check off the items one by one, it would fuel my pride as a Christian, making me feel somewhat superior. But when I read it in the light of how we are to treat our enemies, all of this false confidence came crashing down. Let me explain. You see, I feel that I have always been fairly good at loving those who will love me back, which is only natural. I personally do not really have any enemies per se, but there are people, or have been people, especially at work, that get on my nerves for various reasons. I had always told myself that I showed love to them simply because I treated them slightly better than everyone else did, but I have come to realize that this just isn't good enough. While I may not have said or did anything directly to their face, when the everyone else would slander them or gossip about them, I am sorry to say that I jumped right in without hesitation, even though in my heart I knew it to be wrong. Jesus says, "If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:46-48) These are some pretty strong words, yet ones that I know without a doubt to be true. We are called to be so much more than the world's standard of "goodness". We are called to treat our enemies as if they were our best friend, and by doing so, more than likely they will cease to be our enemies. Paul says that if we do not have love, no matter how much good we may do, in the end it all amounts to "jack squat!" (to quote Matt Foley, motivational speaker) We may share the gospel, but if our actions do not back up the words that come out of our mouths, what power is there?

This is something that has really convicted me as of late, and something that, with God's help, I am trying to improve upon. I know that I will fail time and time again, but I know that God won't give up on me. Well, that's all I've got for now. Have a good one!

As Dreams of Cadbury Creme Eggs

2006-03-28T22:19:00.000-07:00

As the title of this blog suggests, Easter is coming! And that means chocolate! Truly a great time of the year, but for far more significant reasons than the unhealthy consumption of an exorbitant amount of candy. For this blog, I decided that I would examine a small portion of the Easter story, one that I believe is often overlooked, but one that I believe we can all identify with. This may not be anything too terribly earth-shattering or inspirational, but it is simply something that I have found somewhat interesting and intriguing over the last couple of days.

The passage that I would like to draw your attention to (hopefully I still do have your attention) is found in Matthew 27: 15-23: "Now it was the governor's custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, "which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?" For he knew it was out of envy that they handed Jesus over to him. While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him." But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor. "Barabbas," they answered. "What then shall I do, with Jesus who is called Christ?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!""

While so many Christians focus mainly on the actions of both Pilate and Jesus in this scene, it is the character of Barabbas that I wish to focus on for the remainder of this blog. When most Christians hear the name Barabbas, they immediately think of an, evil, vile man, who got off easy while our Lord and Saviour was sentenced to a brutally painful death. And this view of him is probably not too far off the mark, as the Bible tells us that Barabbas was a murderer, and was guilty of leading an insurrection against the government of his day. Even by today's standards, this was one guilty man deserving of punishment. And it is to our horror that he is basically given a "Get Out of Jail (or in this case, execution) For Free" card, as it violates every sense of justice in our being. But I believe that when our thought process ends here, we are missing a major point of the story, as every word of the Bible serves a purpose.

Think of it in this way: Barabbas was a man guilty of countless sins, and greatly deserving of punishment. But through Jesus' death sentence, he was set free, without having to face condemnation and punishment for his actions. I believe that this hardened criminal serves as a parallel to every last one of us as Christians, as "all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) Paul later says in Romans 6:23: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." Like Barabbas, we have all been found guilty of sin, and are deserving of death. Yet through Jesus' ultimate sacrifice on the cross, our sins have been covered over. As the Easter season approaches, I believe that it is impossible to even begin to comprehend the full magnitude of the cross unless we can first accept the fact that we are sinners, worthy of the death penalty. It is when we are blinded by our own pride that we somehow view ourselves as above these "sinners", and in the process, cheapen God's loving sacrifice at Calvary. We fall into the lie that we are somehow deserving of this gift, and therefore take Jesus' pain and suffering for granted. I know that I am guilty of falling into this trap, and have only recently begun the process of removing the blinders of my pride, but it is my desire to be able to fully appreciate and express my gratitude for the cross, although I don't claim to have reached this point in my journey yet. But the good news is that no matter how we may view the cross, it cannot change the cold hard facts of it, and the love poured out for us that day. Anyways, sorry if I bored anyone, I just felt the need to do some more blogging on a quiet evening such as this.

Hungry?

2006-03-22T22:29:00.000-07:00

For those of you who know me even the slightest bit, one glance at the title and you will probably say to yourself, "What a surprise, Tyler is thinking of food again (or still)!" In most cases, you would be correct, and still are, as I am currently envisioning a large juicy steak grilled to perfection, after a long hard day of marinating and tenderizing. Mmmmm....steak! They say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, and I am living proof of this. But as much as I enjoy the culinary art of consumption, it is about a different kind of hunger that I wish to share some thoughts on tonight. I am talking about a hunger and thirst for God.

But before I delve into this topic any farther, I feel that I should first share a little of my own experiences over the past seven months or so. It all started at Belle View, during the last campfire of the week. As I sat there, I began to wonder why it was that everyone else seemed to have these major encounters with God at camp, and why, aside from good memories and good friends and good food (there I go again! Thank-you Ben!!!!!!), I usually didn't return from camp with too many life changing decisions or revelations. In my mind, I thought I was a pretty good Christian, and that there was no reason that God shouldn't be revealing Himself to me. And then it hit me. It was this very fact that was blocking my communication with God; ugly selfish pride. You see, I had fallen under the illusion that I didn't struggle with any of the more visible "major" sins, that I was somehow a kind of "super-Christian". I began to realize at that moment how wrong I had been. Through my pride, I was essentially saying that I had no need to hear from God, as I felt I had everything together, and that is why it was all too rare that I felt I heard God speak to me. Since that time, it has felt like I have been a brand new Christian, as I have been learning more and more every week, and realizing just how little I really know. So that is where I was coming from.

Anyways, shortly after returning from camp, I began to pray that God would not only humble me, but that He would fill me with a hunger and thirst to know Him on a more personal level. And He didn't disappoint. These past few months have been ones full of new realizations and revelations, as God has been revealing to me more and more of His character. For most of my life, I would be lucky if God would reveal something of Himself to me several times a year, due to the barrier of pride that I had built up in my life. Since camp, God has been speaking to me in a very real way, often teaching me something new several times a week. Needless to say, it has been an immensely exciting time for me spiritually, which is good, as what social life I had has gone down the drain this past year. I am by no means claiming that this hunger and thirst for God has been a constant thing in my life, as I often find this desire fading. But when it begins to fade, I then simply pray and ask God to restore this hunger and thirst, and then it is not long before God chooses to reveal something more to me. So far, it seems to be a prayer that God takes great delight in answering, and will answer without fail.

Jesus himself said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." (Matthew 5:6) He also said, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:13-14) He couldn't have spoken truer words. So I encourage you, that if you feel like you are in kind of a rut spiritually, why not ask God to fill you with a hunger and thirst for Him? You would be amazed at the results such a simple prayer can have. Make Psalm 63 the prayer of your heart: "O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water...".

A Welcome Break From The Routine

2006-03-08T21:46:00.000-07:00

Today was quite possibly the most exciting day of work ever for me. Although it was yesterday that our shop truck was in a bit of an accident, and we have had no fires for quite some time, it was exciting for an entirely different reason. You see, today I spent a solid two hours explaining the gospel to one of my co-workers, and attempting to answer some of his questions about Christianity and what we believe and why. His questions ranged from "How could an all powerful God allow so much evil and corruption to exist?" to "If God created all plants, is it a sin to smoke marijuana, as it is something that He created?". So as you can tell, the conversation jumped around to a variety of topics. As far as I can recall, this was the first time that I have ever had the chance to actually share the message of the gospel with a non-believer, or at the very least the first time that I have had the courage to do so. As I talked with him, he said that some things were starting to make more sense, but he still remains skeptical, so needs more prayer. The whole experience payed dividends for me as well, as it really caused me to think about what it is that I believe. So as you can tell, I am extremely excited that I had the privilege to be a part of this.

Over the course of the conversation, his one question really stuck out to me, as it is pretty much essential to our entire faith, yet it is one that the church seems often to gloss over. After explaining Jesus' mission here on earth, he asked me, "Why would an all powerful God allow himself to become a human, as we are nothing at all in all our weakness?" It really struck me that this was one of the first questions to come to his mind after hearing the story of Jesus. For those of us who were raised in the church, I believe, at least as was my case, that we are somehow better than all the "sinners" out there, turning a blind eye to our own weakness in the name of pride. Or else we don't fully portray just how low a position Jesus held here on earth, compared to His home in heaven. Case in point, how many of you have seen a nativity scene at Christmas where piles of manure litter the floor of the stable; where Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds are dressed in rags; where the baby Jesus is crying; where golden halos float around the heads of those present? How many of you have ever scene pictures in Sunday school of a Jesus who was in extreme agony; a Jesus whose appearance was not that of a physically perfect man; a Jesus who wept openly, despite the fact that He knew that in a matter of days He would restore life to His friend Lazarus? Yet I think that these pictures are much more accurate depictions of the life of Jesus. At the time of His birth, as from all outside appearances He was born outside of wedlock, he would have been shunned by the close-knit Jewish community in which He grew up, living as an outcast. As far as life on earth goes by human standards, Jesus did not have a whole lot going for Him. Yet how often does this fact register in our minds, as we prefer to focus on the kind, joyful, and loving teacher that we know so well? (I am not denying the fact that He displayed these characteristics, I merely mean to point out that there is so much more to Him than we normally choose to remember) I believe that unless we recognize our own depravity, it is impossible to fully comprehend God's act of love in sending His son in human form to earth. I believe that this alone was a huge sacrifice on God's part, only being overshadowed by the crucifixion. For those of you who have read the book "The Jesus I Never Knew", you can probably see where many of these ideas are coming from. For those of you who haven't, you're missing out big time! Anyways, just thought I'd share a little snippet of excitement in an otherwise mundane day, and maybe even challenged your thinking in the process.

Dream On!

2006-03-04T22:53:00.000-07:00

"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or another of these destinations." -C.S. Lewis

Today as I was once again reading through the book "The Jesus I Never Knew", I was struck by an idea that I found both inspirational and challenging. It all centers around the idea of dreams, and as I have already shared my dream with you in a previous blog, I'll spare you the details. Anyways, I want you to go through an exercise here with me for a second. I want you to think of the top five most influencial people in history. There's the obvious Sunday school answer of Jesus, but who else? Abraham Lincoln? Martin Luther King Jr.? Pope John Paul II? Napoleon Bonaparte? Napoleon Dynamite? While all of these people have had undeniable impacts on history, it is not their lives that has inspired me of late.

No, the people that have inspired me are much less noble. The men that I am talking about were everyday men, and by no means saints. They were at times hot-tempered, and not afraid to lash out with the sword. They were proud men, and quarrelled about who among them was the greatest. They were relatively uneducated, and were slow learners at that. When things turned ugly, they were quick to desert their closest friend, hardly the type of people that our society chooses to honor. Yet these eleven men were some of the most influencial men in the entire history of the world, next to Jesus. If you haven't figured it out yet, I am talking about the eleven disciples of Jesus (discounting Judas Iscariot). These men, ordinary and imperfect as they were, continue to exert tremendous influence even today, 2000 years after they walked the earth. It is upon the shoulders of these men that the church was formed. Without their eye witness accounts of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and their willingness to preach the gospel, I would assume that there would be no church, as we would never know of God's ultimate sacrifice. If God can use these few men, inspite of all their faults, to shape the world as we know it, how much more can he use us, should we choose to let Him live and work through us?

I believe that everyone has a God-given dream, whether they realize it or not. For some, they may be earth-shattering; for others, it may simply be being a witness to that one co-worker. But the point is, God has plans for everybody's lives, and His plans are generally much larger than we can foresee or comprehend. Jesus himself says, "Very truly I tell you, all who have faith in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father." (John 14:12) Yet as I examine the modern church here in North America, there appears to be a major inconsistency between the words of Jesus and how we live our lives. When somebody seizes their God-given dreams and makes a significant impact in the world, why is it that we view them as being "super-Christians", as if somehow their own effort and perseverence has got them to where they are today? I believe that if you were to ask people like Billy Graham and Mother Theresa, they would bluntly tell you that on their own, they can do nothing, and that only by allowing God to work through their lives were they able to realize and fulfill their greatest dreams. What is stopping the other 98% of us from having a significant impact for the Kingdom (I am not saying that God has world changing plans for everyone in store, but He definitely has plans for everyone. I merely mean that we should choose to live in such a way that we can maximize our full potential in Christ).

If you were to glance up and down your church pews on a Sunday morning, how many people would you see who are just going through the motions of Christianity, forsaking any dreams that they may of once had, but for whatever reason chose not to pursue? I am not trying to come down hard on the church, but what would your city, province, country, or even world look like if even half of us chose to pursue our God-given dreams? The prospect just blows my mind! We may feel unworthy to accomplish our dreams, but just look at what God accomplished through a ragtag bunch of fishermen! I believe that the key is to surrender control of our lives, and to instead rely on God's prompting and prodding. Some people may abandon their dreams because they feel that only by pursuing the world's standard of success can they find contentment. The fact is, there is nothing more discontenting than that of an unfulfilled dream, and the fact is, God will provide for those who choose to follow him whole-heartedly. If I have convicted any of you, then good! But hopefully I have instead encouraged you not to lose sight of your God-given dreams, be they great or small, and that in time they will change from dreams to reality. Not everyone can change the world, but everyone can change the part of the world in which they live, work, play, etc. So in the words of Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, "Dream on!".

You've Got A Friend In Me

2006-02-28T20:26:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, this past weekend marked yet another edition of Skiriffic here in Cold Lake. As one who has attended every Skiriffic from its inception about 8 years ago, I believe that this was the best one yet. Any time about 350 teens are brought together in a small community such as we live in to hear the Gospel message is a success by any standards. But as much as I enjoyed Skiriffic itself, this was not what had the greatest impact on me. As much fun as I had playing in the worship band, it was the time spent with friends throughout the weekend that was the most meaningful to me.

As most of you probably know, many of my close friends have left the sprawling metropolis of Cold Lake to pursue studies elsewhere, while I have remained at home in order to work and save enough money to do so myself. In short, it has been somewhat of a lonely year for myself. But this is not a pity story in the least, as in the absence of many of my close friends, I have grown into a much deeper and meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ. But what this weekend has really taught me is not to take my friendships for granted, and to cherish every moment spent in the company of my Christian friends.

The importance of friends is one which Jesus himself clearly saw great value in. In his book "The Jesus I Never Knew" (which, by the way, is an incredible book, and I highly recommend it to everyone!), Philip Yancey writes in reference to the disciples: "Why does Jesus invest so much time in these apparent losers? To answer that, I turn to Mark's written account, which mentions Jesus' motives in choosing the Twelve: 'That they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach.' That they might be with him. Jesus never tried to hide his loneliness and his dependence on other people. He chose his disciples not as servants but as friends. He shared moments of joy and grief with them, and asked for them in times of need. They became his family, his substitute mother and brothers and sisters. They gave up everything for him, as he had given up everything for them. He loved them, plain and simple." If a circle of close friends was something that Jesus felt was this important, how much more then do we, as mere humans, require the close bonds of friendship?

As I'm sure you all know, this past year was one filled with sorrow and suffering for me, but through God's provision and help I was able to persevere and even grow in my faith through it all. I now realize that one of the ways that God provided for me during these tough times was by providing me with a group of friends that stood by me through it all. They didn't have to say anything, just being around them helped take my mind off of the troubles I was going through. I didn't recognize it as God's provision for me at the time, but looking back, I don't know how I would have handled it without the love and support of my friends. This is something that I am truly grateful for, and wish to express my extreme gratitude to them. It is my hope that I can in turn be there for them when life throws them a curve ball. To sum it all up, this weekend was a great time of refreshing for myself, as almost all of my good friends came together for a weekend of good times and awkward moments (courtesy of Newman). It is my hope that I will never take my friendships for granted, and that regardless of where life leads each of us, our friendships will be the one thing that remains constant.

Big Plans!

2006-02-13T21:41:00.000-07:00

Well, after several long years of prayer and searching, I believe that God has finally chosen to reveal His plans for my life, and let me tell you, from what I can tell, these are some huge plans. It all got started while talking to my fine friend Andrew Nippard about a vision that God had placed on his heart. After talking with him, the idea would not leave my mind, and a felt that God was calling me to share in this dream. Now just what is this dream you may ask (or maybe you've read Andrew's blog and already know!), but I feel that it bears repeating in my own words.

You see, this dream involves helping and ministering to the homeless, and being able to have a significant impact in their lives. I am not talking about some under-funded, run-down soup kitchen that hands out food once a day. I am talking about actually enabling the homeless to find work and integrate back into society, along with meeting some of their basic needs. Its like the old saying "give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day; teach a man to fish, and he'll have food for life". And that is what we desire to do. In our minds, we envision creating a large facility that incorporates a cafeteria of sorts (all free to the homeless, of course!), places just for them to hang out and build relationships with us and each other, help with addictions in addition to providing them with any medical attention they require, and finally, having some sort of job placement program. This may sound like lofty goals, but we fully believe that, God willing, we will be able to fulfill this dream.

I cannot say with 100% certainty that this is for sure my calling, but God has been revealing many verses to me during my devotions that seem to point to this as my calling. In addition, after searching through many possible careers and vocations, this is the first one that seems like a perfect fit. For a while now I have felt called to some type of ministry, but all the traditional ministry roles (pastor, missionary, etc.) did not seem like the right fit. In short, I felt the need to innovate and create a unique job that was different from anything I had ever heard of. Almost immediately I began to worry about financial needs, and then began to doubt that this was even my calling, and was just a spur of the moment idea like so many I have had in the past. But then God stepped in and really spoke to me, seeming to erase any doubt and worry. Here are some of the verses that He showed me:

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:33-34)

"Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Matthew 10:39)

"Defend the cause of the weak and the fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." (Psalm 82:3-4)

"A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor." (Proverbs 22:9)

"He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses." (Proverbs 28:27)

As you can tell, these verses all seem to confirm this calling for me, and I truly believe that God revealed them to me for this reason. Finally, the two of us cannot do this alone. As you can tell, an undertaking of this magnitude will not only require immense prayer support, but also other people with a wide range of skills and talents. If God has placed it on your heart to join us in this undertaking, please don't be shy! Let us know, as we welcome any help and support we can get. This whole idea fills me with such a great sense of both excitement and fear, unlike anything I have ever experienced before, which in itself also seems to confirm it in my mind. In closing, there is a chorus in a song by Starfield that effectively sums up my feelings at the moment: "I am alive in this moment, in this moment I am found. I am alive in this moment, in this moment I belong."

Around the World In 80 Days

2006-01-30T23:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, so maybe I won't be going around the world, or even taking a trip for 80 days, but I am going to Peru for two weeks this coming August for a missions trip, which is even better. The team has at long last been chosen, and come August, I will be heading south with about eleven others to see what God has in store for us. I am extremely excited to see what God will do in the hearts and lives of myself and the rest of the team. I suspect that it will be a very humbling experience for all of us, as for most of us it will be the first time that we have witnessed severe poverty. I am sure that we will be forced out of our comfort zones, but that God will use it to stretch and strengthen our faith. At this time it is uncertain as to what the purpose of the trip will be, whether it is travelling to various villages to hand out food hampers, working on a building project, or ministering to children, but I am sure that whatever the case God will use us to further His kingdom.

As is the case with any task, this trip must be upheld in prayer, and I would appreciate all the prayer and support we can get. There are many obstacles that we as a team must overcome. Pray for the health and safety of everyone, so that not only are we able to go on the trip, but that we don't catch some crazy jungle viruses while we're down there. Pray that all of the financial support that is needed to make this trip a reality will come in. Pray for unity among team members, as we seek to become closer to each other and closer to God. Also pray that we will be guarded against spiritual attacks, as things are already popping up that may hinder peoples' involvement in the trip. But most importantly, pray that God will do amazing things in the lives of all of us, and that we would walk away from Peru truly changed people. I know it seems like a lot of prayer requests, but I fully believe that prayer is one of the most crucial ingredients when it comes to any missions trip.
In Christ,
Tyler

Giving Up The Driver's Seat

2006-01-14T11:31:00.000-07:00

Recently at a youth leaders' meeting, Chris challenged us as to whether we were living lives that fully relied on God, and if that was even attainable. My first reaction was that here in North America, it would be pretty well impossible, as we do not have to completely rely on God for such things as our next meal, things many of us take for granted. But, after further thought, I began to believe that it just may be possible, and, though far from easy, is something that I wish to strive for.

The question of whether we lived lives that were fully dependent on God immediately convicted me, as there are so many times in my life where I want to be in control, or I want to take the credit for things that God has done through me. A prime example of this is playing in a worship band. So often there is this desire to take the credit when the band plays really well, even if I know in the back of my mind that the credit belongs to Someone else. Even if my heart desires to fully rely on God, my mind often has other ideas. I think that Paul greatly understood this internal struggle for control of our lives. In Romans 7:14-20, he writes, "We know the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do- this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it." Now there are more "I do's" in that passage than in most weddings, but I believe that Paul has effectively conveyed the struggle that all of us Christians face.

Shortly after the youth leaders' meeting, some verses were brought to my attention during my devotions that reinforced the idea that apart from God, we can do nothing. In John 15:5-8, Jesus teaches, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." Suddenly I viewed this verse in a new light. Somehow, I had heard this verse countless times without ever really catching its significance. In short, all our attempts to further the kingdom of heaven are completely useless unless God is the One in control. But rather than end on this note, Jesus goes on to offer an amazing promise. Anyone who lets God have complete control of their lives will be given whatever they ask for in Jesus' name and it will be given to them. I believe that this is because if we fully rely on God, His desires will become ours.

I will end with a short analogy that I came up with to describe this. Imagine a skydiver jumping out of a plane several thousand feet above the ground. Although his parachute is right there with him strapped to his back through it all, it is useless to accomplish its purpose if the skydiver chooses to ignore it. If he tries to have a safe landing through his own efforts, he will end up as little more than a gelatinous blob on the pavement below. Yet if he instead chooses the more sensible option and chooses instead to let the parachute do all the work and slow his descent, he will live to skydive another day. In this story, it appears completely stupid to ignore the parachute. Why is it that we find it so much easier to rely on our own strength, when we could instead let the One who created us live through us instead?

The Hottest Thing To Hit The Streets Since Pogs!

2006-01-11T21:42:00.000-07:00

Well, its that time of year again. The time of year for establishing elite clubs, that is. As of January 11, 2006, the Stellar Society of Superlatively Smart Singletons was formed, or the Pentastics for short "penta means five, for those of you on the outside looking in". It currently consists entirely of its three founding members: Official President of the Pentastics Andrew W. Nippard, Official Vice-President Stephanie E. McAuley, and myself, Official Head of Security Tyler J. Fehr. All in all, it is a very exclusive group.

Meetings are held via the internet, as we have chapters in Cold Lake, Edmonton, and Sydney, Australia. All decisions must be made by a consensus. The society was formed as a result of all of us being single, and having little else to do on a quiet Wednesday evening, or Thursday morning in the case of the President. The club has a very rich history, dating back to 1986 when its oldest member was born. The theme song is sung by Donkey off of Shrek, and goes as follows: "I'm all alone, there's nobody here besiiiiiide me...". Violence is never used to solve our problems, as we have learned that the pen is mightier than the sword. Also, a stinging remark is often more humorous than an act of violence.

There is limited positions available in the Pentastics, and we are accepting applicants. The requirements are as follows: the applicant must be single, have a high opinion of themselves, and undergo the rigorous and often strenuous entrance exam, also known as the initiation puzzle of Dreadfully Dire Deadly DOOM! Even then, it is up to the founding members to allow admittance. This is not a venture for the weak of heart. You have been warned!

Mythbusters

2006-01-07T19:40:00.000-07:00

Recently while reading the book Rumours of Another World by Philip Yancey, there was a passage that leapt off the page at me, one which dispensed with a common misconception that we hold of God and His great love for us. The myth is this: that when we fall into sin, God draws apart from us, until we seek Him out. In fact, the opposite is true. In his book, Yancey writes:"'Adam, where are you?' God called out in the garden. It was Adam, not God, who hid. God takes the initiative to come searching; we are the ones who hide. And Jesus, the Great Physician, sees our sins not as disqualifiers but as the reason for his journey from another world to ours. Rescue is God's business." When I read this, I knew it to be true, yet it was completely opposite to our human misconceptions of God. While it is true that it is sin that separates us from God, it is also true that God never gives up on us, and is constantly pursuing us in the hopes that we will turn from our sinful ways and return to His loving arms.

In Luke 15:4-7, Jesus tells the following parable: "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent." The message of this parable is also reinforced through the parable of the lost coin and the story of the prodical son, and that message is that no matter how badly we may mess up in this life, it in no way deters God from relentlessly pursuing a meaningful relationship with us.

It is important to remember that when we are going through rocky times spiritually, despite how we are feeling, we cannot push God away. He will be there right beside us, but it is up to us to accept His help. In the song Sea of Faces, Kutless writes, "If only my one heart / Was all You'd gain from all it cost / Well I know You would have still been a man / With a reason / To willingly offer Your life." I cannot think of a more encouraging thought than that.

2005: My Year In Review

2005-12-30T18:35:00.000-07:00

As a new year approaches, I feel that it is time that I stood back and reflected on this past year. I am not a man who believes in New Year's resolutions; if you want to change something about yourself, why should you wait until a new year? I call it procrastination. Anyways, here are are some of the important things that happened to me this year, for anyone who cares.

This past year has been an emotional rollercoaster ride for me, as I have endured both some of the toughest periods of my life and some of the greatest moments of my life. It was just over a year ago that my mom was diagnosed with cancer, and thus began the toughest 6 months of my life. Diseases like cancer are something that always happen to "other people", until someone you know gets it, and then reality hits. It was a rough time for my entire family, but I thank God that my mom has experienced a complete recovery, as she finished up the last of her treatments in May. Through it all, I was taught what it means to have to rely on God, and He didn't disappoint. After the initial shock, God just filled me with such a great sense of peace that I didn't worry a lot about the situation, but it was still far from easy. I also learned that our plans are not necessarily God's plans, and that He can intervene whenever He pleases.

After that, things began looking up for me. I got a job at the golf course in May, which was like a dream come true. What more could I ask for than to be paid for being at what has become my second home over the summer? Some of my best memories of the summer are of times spent on the golf course with good friends, and fun with golf carts. I am proud to say that I have never hit a golf ball INTO the pro-shop (cough, Nippard, cough, cough). I also spent two awesome weeks at Belle View, one as a counselor and the other as a proud member of Cabin 6, which is perhaps the largest cabin camp has ever seen.

Towards the end of the summer, my dad announced his resignation after 18 years serving as pastor of our church. This came as a huge shock to me, as Cold Lake is the only home that I have ever known. But its now so bad for me, as I will be living in Calgary come September.

I almost forgot. This spring I graduated from high school! The downside is that I have now entered the real world, and am now working full-time at National Oilwell here in town. To me it still seems strange to technically be considered an adult, as I am not sure that I like this thing called work. Then in October, something happened that I had been waiting over an entire year for...HOCKEY CAME BACK!!!!! Anyways thats some of the important things that happened to me this past year. Sorry if I bored you, but if you were bored enough, you wouldn't have read this far. Happy New Year!

I Just Wanna Be A Sheep...

2005-12-18T16:24:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been thinking about sheep. I know this may sound a little odd, but hear me out. To me sheep seem to be a very stupid and helpless animal. Without the guidance of a shepherd or sheepdog, I don't know if they would ever be able to find suitable pastures to eat. They are completely unable to defend themselves against predators, although I'm told that they smell extremely bad, which may act as a sort of defense. For all intents and purposes, sheep appear to be useless creatures when left to themselves without a shepherd or a sheepdog to guide and protect them. You may be starting to figure out where I am going with this, but if not, I will explain myself.

In the Bible, it says that "We are his people, the sheep of His pasture." (Psalm 100:3) At first glance, it would appear somewhat insulting to be compared to an animal of such seemingly low intelligence. But upon closer examination, I believe that it paints a very comforting and reassuring picture of our Creator. You see, like sheep, we as Christians must rely on Someone else to guide and protect us throughout our entire lives. Jesus himself said "I am the Good Shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me- just as the Father knows me and I know the Father- and I lay down my life for my sheep." (John 10:14-15) Who better to look after us than the One who knows us completely? Like sheep, we are unable to live life on our own, and it is only through the guidance of the Good Shepherd that we can find fulfillment and contentment.

Psalm 23 beautifully describes this relationship between the Good Shepherd and His sheep:

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside

quiet waters,
3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his

name's sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear

no evil,

for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

What I like about this passage is that it shows that we do not need to worry about our future, because is all in God's hands and He will "guide us in paths of righteousness". Because of His presence, we are even able to eat in the sight of our enemies without fear. Like sheep, we are able to completely trust and rely on our Shepherd to guide us through life. In a world where everybody wants to be in control of their own destiny, I find comfort in the fact that I do not have to worry about it, as it is in the hands of One far greater than I.

The Fear Of God

2005-12-11T16:32:00.000-07:00

The other day I stumbled across the following passage as I was having my daily devotions:

"You alone are to be feared. Who can stand before You when You are angry? From heaven You pronounced judgement, and the land feared and was quiet- when You, O God, rose up to judge, to save all the afflicted of the land. Surely Your wrath against men brings You praise, and the survivors of Your wrath are restrained. Make vows to the LORD your God and fulfill them; let all the neighboring lands bring gifts to the One to be feared. He breaks the spirit of rulers; he is feared by the kings of the earth." (Psalm 76:7-12, emphasis added)

This really got me thinking about whether we in today's society truly have a fear of God. How many times have we been told that to fear God really just means to have a healthy respect for Him, not to actually fear Him? Looking back through the Old Testament, it would appear, that at least at times, the people truly feared God and what He was capable of. I think of the plagues in Egypt, the Flood, and Sodom and Gommorah, and believe that events like these were more than enough to instill a certain fear of God in people. When Abraham was about to sacrifice his son Isaac, an angel of the Lord appeared to him and told him, "Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."(Genesis 22) Could it be that Abraham feared God enough that the loss of his son paled in comparison to the consequences that disobedience to God would bring? Whenever angels, who are merely created beings who serve in the presence of God, appeared to people, they were almost always terrified (Mary, shepherds, women at Jesus' tomb). How much more terrified would they be of God Himself?

I am not by any means suggesting that our actions should be motivated out of fear; I wholly believe that our actions should be motivated out of our love for God and our love for others. However, it does appear to me that we are missing something when it comes to the fear of God. How many of us can actually say that we have been in fear of God? We have felt many emotions directed at God, but fear? I think that part of the problem lies in the advances of science and technology in this day and age. We no longer view natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, as an act of God, but simply as extreme weather phenomena with reasonable scientific explanations. In our attempts to find an explanation for everything, we often leave God, the Creator of all life, out of the picture. It is much harder to fear something when there is a reasonable explanation for it. I do not know what it would look like to live in fear of God, or even how to learn to fear God. However, it does appear that there is a key ingredient missing from our faith, and that is a fear of God. How many of us attempt to justify our sins by telling ourselves that we can just ask for forgiveness after the fact, because God is a loving God. A fear of God might make us think twice before falling into these sins. Maybe I'm missing the point, but these are simply just some of the thoughts that have been rolling around my head these last couple of days. I gladly welcome any insight into this subject, since it is a topic about which I have little or no understanding.
Until next time,
Tyler

Running On Faith

2005-12-07T16:27:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been pondering the topic of faith, and how it affects my life. As I begin to plan for my future, I wonder if I have enough faith to fully trust that God has a perfect plan for my life, because right now, I have no idea what my future holds. While many of my friends are off at university preparing for their future careers, I still have no idea what I want to be when I grow up (as we used to say as kids, although I still don't feel grown up). This is where faith comes in. Jermiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Yet, while I know this to be true, there is a part of me that still doubts, because I cannot foresee these plans, or even control them. I am the kind of person who likes to have a definite answer for everything, and I cannot stand uncertainty.

Then, at the Ripple Effect, Pastor Shawn pointed out that faith includes both certainty and uncertainty, and that really hit home. He then illustrated his point with the stories of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Daniel 3) and of Peter walking on the water (Matthew 14:22-33). I realized that just because I am uncertain about something, it doesn't necessarily mean that I am lacking faith. I like an analogy that I found in the book The Barbarian Way, by Erwin McManus. In short, it says that a rhino has such poor vision, that it can only see thirty feet in front of its own nose. It has no idea what lies at thirty-one feet, yet that does not stop it from charging ahead. He then goes on to say that as Christians, this is how we should live our lives; trusting God's guidance and following His direction every moment, even if we are unable to see where it may lead us.

This fits in with what Jesus said in Mark 10:15: "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." A child is able to trust people completely when they tell them to do or not to do something, knowing that there must be a reason for every rule. They are content, at least at a younger age, to simply accept the facts without questioning why. They do not comprehend the possible consequences of disobedience, but follow their parents instructions never the less. It is this kind of child-like faith that I desire in my own life, being able to completely trust in God's word, never having any shred of doubt. I think that Jars of Clay summarizes these ideas in their song Like A Child, which read:

They say that I can move the mountains

And send them falling to the sea

They say that I can walk on water

If I would follow and believe

With faith like a child

And with that I will leave you.

You Have Potential!

2005-11-29T16:42:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, I had the privilege to attend the Ripple Effect conference in the sprawling metropolis of Vermilion, Alberta. It was time well spent, as I learned a great deal on a variety of subjects. I am still trying to process and make sense of all that I learned, and will share my thoughts with you as I go.

In one of the opening sessions, Pastor Shawn shared a verse which I am sure I have read many times, yet he pointed out something that I had never noticed before. The verse is John 16:7-8, and reads: "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment." (emphasis added). When I heard this, I was immediately puzzled as to how it could ever be better for the disciples for Jesus to leave them. I mean, Jesus is God in the flesh, and did showed countless acts of love and kindness during His time on earth. I cannot imagine a more effective ministry than that of Jesus.

After tossing these ideas around in my head, I began to take a look at the rest of the verse, concerning the coming of the Holy Spirit, and suddenly the verse began to make a lot more sense. Jesus, while being God, could only be in one place at a time due to His also being fully human, and therefore could only proclaim His message of love and hope in one place at a time. I am not trying to place limitations on Jesus, because I know He is fully God, this is simply my understanding of His dual nature. Anyways, with the Holy Spirit dwelling in the hearts of believers, the gospel could quickly spread throughout the entire world. In this way Jesus would be able to continue His ministry through the lives of believers everywhere. This appears to be a very beneficial result of Jesus returning to heaven.

I looked into this idea further and found John 14:12-14, which says, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." Jesus also says in Mark 16:17-18: "And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."

To me, all of these verse hint at a great potential within each of us as Christians, due to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. If Jesus said that it would be best for Him to leave us, then He must have seen in us potential of unimaginable proportions, especially when He says that through Him, believers will perform miracles even greater than the ones He performed here on earth. It makes me wonder if we are living up to our full potential in Christ, or if we are simply acting too much in our own strength in our attempts to further the kingdom. However, it also fills me with a great sense of hope, since Jesus working through us is able to accomplish all of these things if we let Him, and that is so much easier than doing it on our own. To borrow a line from Switchfoot, we were meant to live for so much more.

The Gift/Curse Of Free Will

2005-11-23T20:09:00.000-07:00

Today as I write this blog it is with a sense of sadness. Without going into too many details, I have a friend who used to have such a hunger for God, but now has been lured by the pleasures that the world has to offer. From all appearances, this person has completely forsaken their faith, going as far as to blatantly insult Christianity and our Saviour Jesus Christ. This pains me deeply, as I cannot understand how after experiencing a relationship with Jesus, how anyone could ever desire anything else. I know we all have a sinful nature within us, and we will routinely give in to these desires, but this struggle with recurring sins is not what I am talking about. What I am talking about is the complete rejection of the Christian faith.

I feel so helpless, as I so desperately want this person's relationship with Christ to be restored, yet I know that we all have our own free will. I feel like Jim Carrey's character on Bruce Almighty, when he wanted to make his girlfriend return to him, but was helpless to do anything because as God, he could not hinder a person's free will. It must pain God deeply when we act on our own free will and fall into sin. The whole idea of God giving us free will is one that is puzzling me at the moment. The only explanation that I can think of is that God desires to be loved by His creation, and that this is only possible if we are allowed to act on our own free will. Love is not something that can be forced on a person, it is something that they must consciously choose to give. A forced love is not love at all, because it does not come from the heart. Maybe that is why we as humans were given free will. I guess that all I can do is pray that God will intercede in this person's life, as only He can, and reveal that He offers so much more than the world will ever be able to give. I can also continue to show this person love, as I let the love of God flow through me. Yet I still feel weak and helpless, but I am reminded that God says that in our weakness, He is strong, and that is a comforting fact.

As I Look At The Stars

2005-11-19T22:49:00.000-07:00

"If the soul could have known God without the world, the world would never have been created." - Meister Eckhart

Tonight I took my dog for a walk down to the marina, and there was totally taken aback by the wonder of creation. Getting away from the noise and lights of the city as I ventured to the end of the dock, I gazed in awe as the largest, most golden moon rose slowly over the horizon into the night sky. Its golden orange radiance was reflected across the still waters of the lake. Gazing out across the lake, it appeared that I was looking into a deep void, as the dark waters appeared to merge with the night sky. The only light came from the moon, and the countless stars that were visible on this clear night. I sat there at the end of the dock gazing into the sky, filled with a great sense of wonder and awe of God's creation. I tried to rationalize this feeling in my head, but there were no words to describe how I felt. For what seemed like the first time, I took notice of the wonder and beauty of creation, and thought that the night sky alone is proof enough that there is a God. All human forms of art pale in comparison to the majesty and splendor of creation.

I think that as we go through our lives, we often become so caught up in our daily lives that we fail to stand in wonder and awe of God and who He is. We may even become so absorbed in church related activities that we lose focus of the real reason for our faith. I believe that it is essential that a person take some time out of their busy lives to simply marvel in the glory of God. In his book Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller writes:
"Too much of our time is spent trying to chart God on a grid, and too little is spent allowing our hearts to feel awe. By reducing Christian spirituality to formula, we deprive our hearts of wonder."

The psalmist seemed to understand better than anyone the wonder of creation. He did not attempt to understand it, he was simply content to live in constant awe and wonder. He writes:

1 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.

2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because

of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and

the stars, which you have set in place,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man

that you care for him?

5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you

put everything under his feet:
7 all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that

swim the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

(Psalm 8, NIV)

These were some of the thought running through my mind as I sat there, but they were cut short by the whining of my dog, who had had enough sitting around and was anxious to head back home. Although brief, this experience is one that I am not likely to forget anytime soon.

A Whole New World

2005-11-10T16:31:00.000-07:00

The title has nothing to do with the song from Alladin, but with some of my experiences since graduating from high school. Working in a pump shop for the past couple of months, I have gotten to know some guys who I normally would have very little to do with, as we have extremely different lifestyles. I'll just give you a couple examples of the types of guys I work with. They're your typical oilfield workers, potty-mouthed and heavy smokers. One guy is currently under house arrest, while another is on probation. Another guy cannot even remember the number of times that he has been arrested. They have been charged with everything from driving under the influence to stealing cars. When we have to take the urine sample drug test in the upcoming months, I will probably be one of the few people in the shop who passes. Definitely not the kinds of people that I have grown up with, being from a Christian family and all.

However, around the shop, they all seem like nice enough guys if you ignore the foul language. I was surprised that I found myself not judging them for their choices, or looking down on them because I have never made the same mistakes. Instead, I see them as people who are lost in life, and are looking for something to fill the emptiness that they feel inside. They would never admit this, but I know that deep down it is true for all of them.

Through these experiences, I am reminded of the character of Jesus. These were precisely the types of people that He came to minister to. He even said that it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick (Matthew 9:12). He did not condemn them for their actions, but instead loved them as they were, offering them the key to eternal life. John 3:17 says, "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him." It is this example that I try to follow at work. I do not try to hide my faith, nor do I shove it down their throats. Instead, I try not to judge them for the choices that they make, but instead let Christ's love shine through me. I am not saying that I never fail in my efforts, because I do, on many an occasion. However, I try to keep in mind that Christ working through me may be the only Jesus that they will ever see or know, and that is not a responsibility to be taken lightly.

Of Worship and Hockey

2005-10-31T16:17:00.000-07:00

Recently while attending church, something that the pastor said really got me thinking. He compared the act of worship to being at a hockey game, and the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. He said that at a hockey game, you cheer when your team scores because it is the most natural thing in the world. Nobody cheers because they feel that there is some rule or regulation that commands it, but simply because they are unable to hold in their joy and excitement. This, I believe, is how we should worship; a raw outpouring of praise because of who God is, what He has done, what He is currently doing, and what He will do in the future. Worship should not be fueled by the desire to conform to the expectations of the church, but fueled by our great love for God, no more, no less.

At a hockey game, or any other sports event,there will doubtless be some crazy diehard fans in attendance. You know the guys I'm talking about. They're the guys with the large bellies who seem to have lost their shirts, and in the process become covered in paint sporting the team's colors. By the middle of the first period, the paint has become smeared as it mixes with the streams of sweat running down his body (just thought I'd share that nice mental image with you). When the home team scores, they yell the loadest and have the craziest victory dances. Why am I writing about this? Simply because it parallels King David's celebration of praise and worship after God helped him achieve victory over his enemies. David, the most powerful king in the world at the time. stripped down and went dancing through the streets of the city. He did not care what others thought of him, including his horrified wife. His only concern was that God knew how grateful and thankful he was. I am not saying that we should all dance naked through the aisles of the sanctuary during the next worship service, but I still think that we can learn something from David. When we worship, it should be with a kind of reckless abandon, caring nothing for what others might think of us. I think that Starfield very effectively captures this desire loose the chains that prevent us from entering into this kind of worship, and at the same time our fear of doing so, in the song "All For You". One of the verses reads:

What is it in me

That hangs on for so long

Why do I fight the tears that come?

I work so hard to

Keep in control when

All that I want is to let go

I think that it is only when we let go of all these fears and worries of what others will think of us that we can finally enter into true worship. Well, those are my deep thoughts for the day, and, in keeping with the theme, GO OILERS!!!

Rolling Out The Welcome Mat

2005-10-22T16:26:00.000-06:00

This year, the focus of out youth ministry is on service, and in particular, serving those who are less fortunate than us. It got me to thinking, would a poor and needy person feel welcomed and loved in today's church? Does today's church focus all of it's energy on helping the needy overseas, while ignoring those in our own community?

I began to wonder how a church would react if a homeless person decided to drop in on a Sunday morning service. What if their clothes were little more than rags, and they smelled as if they hadn't showered in weeks? What if their breath smelled of stale alcohol, or they bore the scars from many years of drug abuse? What if they showed multiple tatoos or piercings, which seemed vastly out of place with our regular Sunday attire? Would these people be welcomed, or forced to slink into a vacant pew at the back of the sanctuary, where the only acknowledgement of their presence is the looks of self-righteous disgust from those around them, although not to close? After all, it is to these types of people, the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the drunks, and other "sinners" that Jesus chose to associate with. If a church claims to follow Christ's example, then, does it not make sense that we should also do what we can to help those less fortunate than us, whether it is through actual monetary aid or simply by providing them with a listening ear? I know these are a lot of questions, but I believe that they are valid ones.

In his book Searching For God Knows What, Donald Miller writes in regards to Jesus' return: "But what if the guys playing the horns turned out to be a few men playing on a street corner in a small town in Arkansas, and what if the horse Jesus rode in on wasn't a Kentucky thoroughbred, but a beligerent donkey? And what if Jesus, after He got here, frequented homeless shelters and bars and ate and drank with the kinds of cultures evangelicals have declared war against?" And what if, when He came like a thief in the night, He came very quietly so that nobody noticed, and what if, crime of all crimes, He was ugly and when He went on CNN producers were uncomfortable with His appearance and only shot Him from the waist up..."

I think that this very effectively conveys Jesus' attitudes towards those deemed outcasts by society. From what I have learned about the character of Jesus, I don't think that I would be all that surprised if the above scenario took place upon Jesus' return. I think that it is the duty of the church to pick up where Jesus left off, and care for the needs of everyone, not just those that society says are worthy of our time and energy.

Jesus: The Human Factor

2005-10-19T16:31:00.000-06:00

This is my first blog, through which I will attempt to share a part of my journey over the past couple of months with regards to the human nature of Jesus. Growing up, I never had any difficulty believing that Jesus was in fact wholly God, and one third of the Trinity (although I do not even have a basic understanding of this concept). As a result of hearing stories of Jesus' miracles from the moment I was born (not much of an exaggeration, really), I had little doubt in my mind that these marvelous feats could not be accomplished by a mere human. This led to my partially believing the stereotype that Jesus is simply just a Deity that looks down on earth from His throne in heaven. Although this is in fact truth, I have discovered in the past couple of months that it is far from being the whole truth.

In New Testament times, I am quite sure that people would have made a mockery of anyone who did not believe that Jesus was completely human. They heard His teachings, ate with Him, talked with Him, laughed with Him, cried with Him, and well, you get the picture. The point is that they had a relationship with Jesus like they would any other human being. What many were not convinced of was Jesus' claims to be the Son of God, and in fact, God. I think that in this day and age, the opposite is true of us because we have not physically seen Jesus. Over the past few months, in reading through the gospels and some other books, I have become increasingly aware of Jesus' human side. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the final 48 hours of His life on earth.

The Bible tells us that in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was so overcome with anguish that God had to send an angel to strengthen Him. Even though Jesus is God, it was because He is also fully human that it was necessary for God to send an angel, a being that Jesus created, to strengthen Him. It just blows my mind that the God of the universe would allow Himself to take on a human form, and in this weakened state require the assistance of one of His servants in order to complete His task.

Another concept that I always had trouble believing was when the Bible says that Jesus was tempted in every way, so that we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses (I hope I remembered that accurately enough). In my mind, I always thought, "Since when has Jesus faced the same temptations that we endure here on earth? When have I ever been tempted to turn stones into bread or jump off the roof of a temple, only to have a legion of angels catch me?" It is only recently that I realized that I had been looking at the temptation of Jesus far to literally. When the devil told Jesus to turn stones into bread so that he could eat and end His 40 day fast, I realized that the real temptation was to carry out His own plans, without relying on God for guidance and direction. When Jesus was tempted to jump off the roof of the temple, it was a temptation to flaunt and/or abuse His power. When Jesus was offered all the kingdoms and pleasures of the world, I realized that this meant fame, wealth, women, and everything the world has to offer. When I began to look at the temptation at from this perspective, I realized, "Hey, I guess this guy really does have some understanding of what we are going through on earth". On a side note, it says that Jesus wept when He learned of the death of His friend Lazarus. Even though He was God, and knew that in a couple of days He would bring Lazarus back to life, Jesus still wept because He was also still fully human.

As I begin to understand this dual nature of Christ, it is comforting to know that Jesus really is able to help us in our weakness because He understands completely what we are going through, not just from the perspective of an all-knowing God, but also from the perspective of a human. I think that when we begin to understand the human characteristics of Jesus, it enables us to have a deeper relationship with Him because we as humans are best able to relate to our fellow human beings. I do not know what backing there is to some of my interpretations, but they are simply some ideas that have popped into my head as I study the gospels in an attempt to better understand who Jesus is. I know this is maybe a little heavy for my first blog, but it is what has been on my mind as of late.