Just A Guy Named Dave

Dashed hopes... yet again!

2007-07-04T11:23:00.000-06:00

"Report: Oilers sign Michael Nylander"

This is the headline that caught my attention when I checked my July 2nd TSN.ca sports update in my email inbox! "What?! Oilers signed Nylander?! No Way!!"

Sadly...

"No way" was the appropriate term as todays follow-up headline read..

"Oilers cry foul over Nylander deal".

Aaargg!! Why did they have to get my hopes up!

For those of you who are now too depressed to read the story for yourselves, I will try to summarize... Basically, the Oilers signed Nylander and received confirmation of the deal in writing only to find out through a press release that Nylander had signed with... the Washington Capitals??

Yes... it's happened again. The Oilers have signed another big name only to find out that contracts in the NHL are apparently irrelevant and not in the least bit binding. This is sadly reminiscent of the wonderful "5 year" Pronger deal... which, after 1 year and an impressive cup run, ended with Pronger forcing the Oilers to send him to Anaheim.

It's really getting hard to be an Oiler fan...
But, it's dark times like these that one needs to remind themselves that it could, in fact, be worse...
We could have signed these guys...

A Sweet Fathers Day!

2007-06-21T12:58:00.002-06:00

Jayden hit 19 months on June 12th so if you do the math he was only 7 months old last Father's Day. While the first is always special I think I will remember this year's Father's Day much more clearly. It was really nothing too spectacular. Just, memorable and very enjoyable.

The three of us went to the Forestry Farm Zoo in Saskatoon. This was Jayden's first trip to any zoo which made it that much more special.

He was pretty quiet about everything until he saw the groundhogs. All these animals and its a bunch of lousy gofers that perk him up?

Personally I was more impressed by the White Bengal Tigers. After making enough noise to wake the sleeping giants Jayden proceeded to greet them with a pretty impressive growl.

Most of the time he was actually more interested in pushing his own stroller.

After a couple hours in the zoo finishing off with the ever-popular monkeys we had supper in the park and headed for home. I couldn't have asked for a better day.

Nothing else to post so...

2007-06-12T12:06:00.000-06:00

http://www.myheritage.com

Heh, heh... as if Johnny Depp and Tim McGraw wasn't bad enough... how do I, in anyway look like Jesse L. Martin??

I'm sorry... how pathetic is this? I don't post for like 2 months and all I got is this junk? Guess I'm just too lazy to post anything else.

Actually, this new facebook phenomenon is taking up all my online time. I gotta admit though, it is pretty fun finding old friends and hearing how they are doing.

Sorry that's all I got for now.

Confession

2007-04-12T14:47:00.000-06:00

I must confess... I am guilt ridden... I have committed an atrocious act! Last night I was an MC at out First Year Reception. I was not prepared like I should have been and as a result I committed an act that I feel horribly guilty about. I am sorry to all you who heard it... I am sorry for my weakness... I am sorry for being a hypocrite. In a feeble attempt at being humorous I did it... I was not forced or pushed to do it... I have no excuse and I am sorry. But I can't take it back, it did in fact happen...

...I said a pun.

Sweet Cup'O'Joe

2007-03-31T21:10:00.001-06:00

On Monday, March 26th I turned 31.

To be honest birthdays have never been much of a big deal for me at least not since I moved out on my own. I'm sure when I was younger it was a big deal, I only remember a couple of those birthdays, one when I moved from Saskatoon to Kelowna - I had a big going away/birthday party in grade 5. That was pretty fun. And I remember all too well one before that, I'm not sure how old I turned but I remember putting on a tantrum because my mom wanted to give someone else a chance to be the leader in "follow-the-leader" on my birthday. But other than that I honestly don't remember a whole lot of birthdays. I remember gifts a bit but not the parties.

I'm not much for celebrations especially when they are focused on me. I would much rather receive a quiet "Happy Birthday" from a friend than a big party in my honour. So, this being 31 was really no big deal. 30 was big but 31 is simply just 31. Anyways, it turned out to be a pretty decent day. I spent the day out of the office looking for gag gifts for the 3rd year class and then came home to pretty sweet gift. A brand new espresso machine.

We had this $50 cheap espresso machine that we used daily to make our americanos and cappuccinos but we never new what we were missing. This thing is so nice. The crema on the top of each shot is incredible, I've honestly never tasted a better americano than the ones we make with this machine, and the frother makes the most amazing lattes and cappuccinos. It's so quick and easy to use - all in all I'm pretty happy with it. I guess it's a bit extravegant and more than we really need but we do like our coffee and I can guarentee that this is one appliance that will definately get it's use.

Fearless?

2007-03-21T15:26:00.000-06:00

The main reason I don't blog more often is that I am busy. I know that sounds like an excuse but really, my life seems to revolve around two things: my son, Jayden and my work at Bethany College. Since my work is somewhat confidential in nature, all I really have that I can post about is my son. And, while I am a very proud father, I feel that there are only so many people interested in hearing more about my son, and besides, my wife started a blog (just about the time I quit posting), which has plenty of stories about Jayden. Thus, my busy life prevents me from blogging.

In any case, in an effort to keep this thing a bit more current, I am going to blog about my son anyways. And what better to follow my previous post about fear then to talk about how fearless he is.

We have made an effort to keep Jayden from being too afraid of things. So, we introduce him to loud noisy things such as the coffee grinder, mixers, and blenders. We thought he might be concerned about these noises but he doesn't seem to mind much. He just kind of looks until your done and then carries on with his life. Take the vacuum cleaner for instance. We thought it might scare him so we made sure he was on the couch or with one of us when we were vacuuming so that he would be too scared. But he's fearless. The little guy actually pulled a mini-tantrum when he realized he wasn't strong enough to push it without my help.

What a brave little guy... fearless... that is until he met up with a McDonald's Happy Meal toy.

For some reason this little robot dog immediately struck the poor guy with fear. As soon as we wound it up and let it walk towards him with its mechanical grinding and buzzing sounds he shivered and cringed with fear. Who knew a little robot dog would be more frightening than a big noisy vacuum cleaner. Oh well, I guess if I can be afraid of sheep he can be afraid of a McDonald's toy.

My Fear

2007-03-07T15:08:00.000-06:00

Yes it's been a while - I'm sorry that I never update this thing. I have no excuse. Hope you like the new look though. Okay, now that we are done with the formalities can we move on? ...Good.

Not many people know this about me but I have (what I used to think was) a bit of an odd fear. I have had it for since I was in junior high and I have been mocked for this fear many times even (especially) by my own wife.

I always felt a bit weird about my fear. I kinda thought I was the alone in this fear. That is until I ran across the clip below. Finally, someone has realized how very scary these beasts can be. These awful beasts I am referring too, these animals that have caused me so much terror, are sheep. Yes, that’s right. Sheep. Now I know your thinking that they are such soft, cuddly and innocent animals but that's exactly what they want you to think. Really, they are the most deceptively evil animals I know of.

Let me explain. When I was growing up our neighbours had sheep and every now and then they would break through our fence and get into our laundry hanging outside to dry or into my mom’s garden. I don’t know why but for some reason I had to go out a try and “herd” them back to their own yard. I was scared - they have big heads and they would chase after you with there heads down ready to butt you and you couldn't turn your back on them 'cause then they would have the target they were looking for so you'd just have to face them as they put there heads down and chase after you. Luckily I was able to escape those episodes with my life and I am still here to tell you about it. But those sheep scarred me and to this day I am still afraid of them. Well as it turns out, I'm not alone in this fear. Someone else has realized how frightening these vile beasts can be. If you want to see what I am talking about check out this trailer of the new horror flick called "Black Sheep". But I must warn you, this is a horror movie so there are some disturbing scenes.

Jayden's 1st Birthday

2006-11-27T17:34:00.000-06:00

I've been meaning to post this video clip for a while. It's a short clip of our son Jayden eating his first Birthday Cake. We choose to keep him away from sugar until this day and I think if he could he would say it was worth the wait.

Stop And Smell The Rose

2006-10-30T17:05:00.000-06:00

Have you ever seen something for the first time after seeing it countless times before? You know, like when you are driving back and forth on the same stretch of road that you’ve been driving for as long as you can remember and then you just have a moment where you notice the beauty of your surroundings? It’s not like you have never seen this scenery before. It’s not like that tree or field wasn’t there the last time you drove by. It’s just this time, you are in the moment, you see it in a way you never noticed before and you think, “Wow! That is really beautiful.”

Well I just had one of those moments a little while ago and it has sparked some significant reflection. I was sitting on the couch in my living room watching my wife get our son ready to go outside. (He’s turning one in about two weeks so it takes a bit to get him ready, but that’s beside the point.) I was watching his movements and gestures and listening to his baby-talk when I was totally caught up in the moment. It’s not like I haven’t seen him grow up and do all these things before. I spend a lot of time with him. I respond to him and attend to him as best as I know how. But as a parent things are always moving and changing and he is growing up so fast that you just find yourself going through the motions, responding to things, reacting to things, doing your job as a parent. Yet, it took me no more than five minutes to see so much more. I had never really sat back and took him all in. I never really rested in the moment and just watched this little guy and when I finally did that’s all it took to put me in total awe - five minutes of gestures and baby-talk.

Needless to say I have spent more than a few times since just sitting and watching him, but that’s not all that was sparked by that moment with Jayden. My reflection has quickly moved to my relationship with Christ. I have worked in a Christian setting for a long time. I know how to live my life in such a way that I look like a good Christian. I’m around Christians all day long - working with students studying the Bible, and professors teaching it to them. I speak in Christian clichés and (sadly) live similarly. It’s like driving that stretch of highway between Saskatoon and Hepburn; it’s so familiar that I never really notice it anymore. I don’t see the beauty, I tune it all out so easily, unless I stop and take a moment to breathe it all in. I can’t imagine doing that with my son. What if I had never taken that moment and had just gone through the motions with him all my life? What a waste! What about Christ? I see Him and work with Him everyday, I know He is here but how often do I take that moment to take Him all in. It reminded me of the saying “stop and smell the roses” (it also reminded me of The 59^th Street Bridge Song by Simon and Garfunkel but that, again, is beside the point). I guess I always thought that the important part of that saying was to “stop”. I know now that the most important part is that we “smell the roses”. And if that’s the case, then I guess it’s even more important for us to stop and smell the Rose…

Give It Up?!

2006-09-21T14:49:00.000-06:00

These past couple of weeks I’ve been hearing this common message about not doing things on your own strength, “letting go and letting God do it”. As I sit here contemplating this idea in my own life (and why this message has been repeated so often lately) I’m not sure I can fully grasp this concept.

Two very similar images have been painted for me in the last few days. One of the footprints poem only with one set of footprints all the time instead just during the rough times. Saying that we should let God carry us through everything and so there should only ever be one set of footprints. The next image is of us hanging on a the edge of a cliff with both hands, begging for help and then there is God with his hand outstretched saying I got you, all you have to do is let go of the edge and grab my hand – I’ll do the rest.

The part I don’t get is the how simplistic this sounds to me. It just doesn’t seem realistic. I have so often in my life asked God to take over to take the lead to just take my life and even more times I have asked him to take pieces of my life. Yet, I still find myself having to do things myself. There are still times when I just feel like I can’t win the battle and I still struggle and I still fall. And I know I’m not alone in this. I don’t think it’s because I didn’t really give it up or that I’m not letting God guide me.

I know the rules, I know the language, I know the ideals, and I know what it means to be a follower of Christ. And I like this ideal, it sounds like bliss, but in my experience is just isn’t quite that simple. Even Paul speaks of the “thorn in his flesh”. I guess the part that doesn’t make sense to me is that it sounds like if we give our life over to God he will carry us through everything and we will no longer struggle. Yet, what I know as truth is that we will struggle and we should struggle but we need to rely on God to carry us through those struggles, we need to be willing to let God help us back up from the edge of the cliff. It’s not that we won’t fall again but that we learn the best, quickest, and easiest way back up after we do fall – by reaching out and grabbing our Saviour’s hand.

I'm Ba-ack

2006-09-08T11:57:00.000-06:00

Now that I'm finally back I don't know where to start. A lot has happened since my last post so I don't think I will even try to pick up where I left off. I can give a quick summary of the past 3 months though. In the end of June we took Jayden on his first trip to BC to see Grandma and Grandpa and his Uncles Keith & Tom and his Aunt Stacey, not to mention a few of my good friends from another life. It was good to see family and friends again and get to spend a longer period of time with everybody. When I got back to work I felt like I could finally let go of all things Admissions and really dive into my new position in Student Development.

Students are now here and the last 2 weeks have been incredible. I knew this was a position I wanted and I knew that I would enjoy it but I no idea that I would love it this much. I truly feel like I was made for this. Everyday is exciting no matter how uneventful it is. The hours just fly by while I'm here whether it's a 50hr week or a 70hr week. The only downside is the time I miss with my family, but I know that will change once things settle down to the normal roar.

I did, however, manage to be home for Jayden's first steps. I was home for lunch and just as I was leaving, he was standing next to the coffee table looking at me with a smirk. So I knelt down and asked him to come to me. I didn't take much coaxing and he was taking 1, 2, 3 steps away from the coffee table and into my arms. What a proud moment. The following clip is not of his very first steps but they're at least from the first week.

What DOES the Church need? (Part II)

2006-06-05T15:49:00.000-06:00

I guess it’s about time I reply to the comments on my last post. First of all I want to thank all you who commented - some very interesting thoughts to say the least. One thing I found interesting was the themes of discipleship, love and community that arose. Here’s a quick point form summary of some of the things I picked up on. Before I summarize I need to throw in this clause: I know I am missing stuff in this recap - if you feel I missed something really important then I am sorry and please feel free to let me know what I missed.

Here’s what I’m hearing the Church needs:

- The church needs a revolution
- People with a theological understanding
- People with cultural understanding
- Discipleship
- External focus rather than internal
- To get rid of comfort zones
- A positive attitude of the church that is willing to critique honestly
- Love
- Lovers of the church
- Christians who Christians 24/7
- Bridges between ages & cultures
- Discipleship/mentoring
- Workers and harvesters
- 1 Cor. 13
- Accountability
- People using their gifts
- To know and teach the Gospel and its entire message
- To understand salvation/eternity as now
- A willingness to contextualize our ministries
- Parents discipling children
- To refocus on scripture and then base our ministry on what we are called to do
- To meet in twos and threes
- A positive attitude - less cynicism
- A contagious love
- An inclusive community
- Honesty and openness
- Humility
- To be in the world even though we are not of it
- Workers
- Disciple makers
- To love those outside the church
- To love by deed
- Prayer
- To love each other
- To love God
- To live out forgiveness

That’s all I have for now, just a simple summary. Yes, I do have an opinion but you will have to wait a bit longer for it. In the mean time feel free to summarize further or add any points I missed. And if that's not enough for discussion here's another question... How might a Bible College (let's say... a school like Bethany College) help the Church with these areas of need?

What does the Church need?

2006-05-24T11:47:00.000-06:00

Last week we had our Spring Planning/ Evaluation meetings and during the discussion we talked about our original purpose. Back in 1927, when the college began, its main purpose was to be a support to the Church or church (Global or local - I’m not sure if it was defined but that’s beside the point).

I think we all agreed that we need to keep that purpose in mind today. With that agreed upon we asked the next question, “What do we do/can we do/should we do for the church?” Before we got too far in answering this question we realized we needed to answer one other question first: “What does the church need?”

To put your mind at ease - I think we all agreed that we, as a college, should not be so arrogant as to think we should have all the answers to this question. Nor should we necessarily be the ones to give direction to the church in this regard. Rather, it was mentioned that we should probably open up some sort of dialogue with churches to determine what it is that they could use from us.

I think this question is a good one. I have my own ideas in this regard but I am much more curious to hear what other people think. I know there are whole books written on this sort of question but I'm kinda curious about what the average person thinks. So let me ask this question to you and please comment (even if your not an average person). I'll even accept some anonymous comments (if I have to).

“What do you think the church (local) needs?”
“What do you think the Church (global) needs?”

Starting again...

2006-05-19T10:58:00.000-06:00

I have to confess that I have been a bit preoccupied lately. Two things have somewhat dominated my time and thoughts this past month. One has been learning my new job, how I fit into it and how I am going to accomplish everything on my plate. The second has been the Oilers’ success in the playoffs. Both are great things that have me very excited about life. Both of these things have also seemed to keep my mind so preoccupied that I haven’t done a whole lot of personal reflection - that is until this week.

This week I started journaling again. This seems to be a cycle for me - I’m sure others are like this too - I seem to go strong for about 2-3 weeks writing everyday or close to it but then I will have a lull of a couple months and start again. I started this journal about 3 - 4 years ago and I’m still writing in it. That should tell you how much time I actually spend in it. But it seems that after every lull in my journaling I write the same sort of thing. Something like “Here we go again” or “Time to start journaling again” or “Sorry I haven’t writing in this thing for a while”. So, being about 3 months since my last entry I started my entry on May 16^th saying “I’m staring again”. But then on May 17^th I found myself writing the exact same thing to start my journal entry, “I’m starting again”.

Then it hit me - we are asked to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily. This is not a burdensome task. This is a blessing. This is a privilege. If I truly take up my cross, if I have laid down my live for Christ, if I have truly given myself to Christ - should that not be permanent? Then, why take up my cross daily? Why does Jesus say that I have to deny myself daily? (Luke 9:23) Maybe it’s because, Jesus knows me. He knows that I am going to mess up daily and that I’m going to need to “start again” everyday. To me that kind of sounds like Jesus is telling us “Yep, I know you’re not perfect so go ahead and say you’re sorry and pick up your cross again. What a blessing the Grace of God is, that we would be able to continuously make this recommitment to Christ.

I know this is nothing deep or profound - it’s just simple thought - a simple truth about forgiveness and grace. I guess it was just was a good reminder and encouragement for me.

Anyways, guess what I wrote in my journal today? - Yep - “I’m starting again”.

A Proud Father and Fan!

2006-04-26T11:26:00.000-06:00

Now that the Edmonton Oilers are actually leading their series against the President’s Trophy winner - Detroit Redwings, I thought it an appropriate time to show the excitement I had that they even made the playoffs.

This photo was taken by Cora Lynn at the exact moment Hemsky scored the winning goal against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks which clinched a playoff spot for the Oilers and killed the Vancouver’s playoff hopes.

(While he's not old enough to be painting anything in my garage yet) you can see by the intensity in his face that my son is already cheering for the right team at 5 months.

GO OILERS!!!

The Next Chapter Begins….

2006-04-22T17:21:00.000-06:00

For the past five years I have been in a job that I would probably say is not my calling. My job (or ministry) has been to first try and convince students to go to Bible College and then to encourage them to seriously consider Bethany College as their Bible College of choice. The problem is I don’t consider myself to be much of a salesman. Not in the traditional sense anyways. I would much rather help someone find out what is the best decision for them to make then to actually sell them my product. As much as I have tried it I have come to realize that sales really isn’t me. It’s actually kind of interesting that I would say that considering my original call to Pastoral ministry.

I was in Grade 5 or 6 and I for some reason had it in my head that I needed to be in ministry in some way. At the same time I was proud of my Dad as he was a good salesman and for that reason I wanted to follow in his footsteps and be a salesman myself. I was struggling with this. How can I be a salesman and do full time ministry? (Keep in mind I was 12 at the time). I was sitting in the church basement listening to some boring speaker and making shapes in the patterned carpet when all of a sudden it (or He) struck me - “Be a salesman for the Lord and sell Jesus to people.” My next thought was “I can be a pastor!” From that point on I was sure this was my calling in life. I’ve never really wavered from that. My focus has changed within that calling such as Youth Pastor or Camp Director but I’ve always stayed within the frame of mind that my job/my ministry in life was to be a Pastor.

That’s actually how the Admissions Director position that I have been in started for me. I wanted to be a shepherd and a shepherd leads and directs people. I saw my job as leading directing people - be it to Bethany, some other Bible College, a secular institution, or something else entirely.

What happened was the position (or rather the needs from that position) started to change. As enrollment started going down the pressure to bring in more students rose. Slowly, it became (to me) too much of a sales position and not enough of a ministry position. Don't get me wrong, I am glad that I had the opportunity to do what I did at Bethany. I am glad I had the opportunity to impact so many lives. I am glad I got to be a Pastor and a shepherd to so many different people. I am confident that I was in the right place at that time, but that chapter is now closed and it has been closing for the past couple of years. It has been closing as a new chapter has been opening.

For the past couple of years (as this chapter has been closing) I have noticed that the times I looked forward to most at Bethany were the times I spent with the students. I loved Missions Trips and Youth Advance because I really had the chance to put more of myself into students. I really got to be a part of their lives. I would often take a break from my "work" to be refreshed by going and chatting with students for a while. At the same time the part that frustrated me the most with my position of Admissions Director was that I could only put a limited amount of time into students’ lives. I wanted to give more of myself to them and really invest in them and grow with them.

Well, after much prayer and waiting, I can finally say that a new chapter is really opening. Starting May 1st my new ministry, my new pastoral position, will be that of Residence Director for Men at Bethany College. In my mind it means I will be a pastor to the men at Bethany. I do not remember being as excited about a position of ministry like am about this one ever in my life. I am excited to be able to put more time into students lives. I am excited to continue the shepherding process. I am excited at the Discipleship opportunities. I am excited about learning about counseling and care-giving from the current student development staff. I am excited to lead, disciple and learn from an amazing group of RA’s this coming fall. And I am excited to see how God works as I do my best to continue to follow the call in my life.

Thank you to all who have prayed for me through the waiting, it is great to have your support. And thanks to Chris - you are a true friend and a man of incredible integrity and character. I have appreciated you more in the past week alone than you could ever imagine. I’m praying for you…

Q: The Hope You Have…? Continued…

2006-03-30T15:12:00.000-06:00

I’m still thinking about passion. I’m still thinking about my hope. I’ve still been thinking about why no one has asked me about my hope.

On the 15^th I posted about 1 Peter 3:15. I questioned how the world sees Christians. This brought about the inevitable question - how does the world see me. Since then I have been thinking about not only my passion for Christ but how others might see that passion.

I realized that I don’t know a whole lot of people that even need to ask me that question. Most of the people I know already have the same hope.

Is this why we don’t get asked about the hope we have? Or is this why we don’t have passion?

Hmmm…

Mending Misconceptions in the Menno Mecca of Manitoba

2006-03-24T12:42:00.000-06:00

I just got back from a brief trip to Manitoba for recruitment business. I met with some alumni that are now Pastors (Nathan & Nikki, Jayson, and Danny) and also with Geoff & Kelly and the youth group in Boissevain. Overall it was an encouraging trip.

I guess I don’t really have anything profound to say about the trip. It was simply encouraging to see old friends again, chat about the ups and downs of ministry, offer few pieces encouragement and mostly just be encouraged myself.

I was given a renewed hope for how Youth Pastors are being treated. I guess I had some presupposition and misgivings as I was heading into good ol’ southern Manitoba Menno towns. I thought I was going to run into all kinds of political garbage and was going to be used to encourage a couple of weary youth pastors. What I found was that these guys really didn’t need a whole lot of encouragement. The truth is they are being treated really well.

This got me thinking - If all of these YP’s are planning to stick around for a while and are being treated so well, is it actually true that Youth Pastors only stick in a church for 6-18 months? (I’ve heard and repeated the whole range stats myself.) So, I did what any curious person would do - I punched it in a google search and I found a very interesting article on the subject found on the Youth Specialties website entitled "Staying Power When the Door Looks Soooo Good"

Lots of Answers but No Question

2006-03-15T14:46:00.000-06:00

Public perception - that’s what I’ve been thinking about lately. To be a bit more specific, what is the public perception of Christianity?

What sparked these thoughts were the (now old news) infamous cartoons found in the U of Sask. paper entitled “The Sheaf”. There have been many blog postings on this topic in the past couple weeks. (Gil Dueck's, Dan King's - also see his 2 previous posts - and Derek Turner's to mention a few). I really don’t want to get into details about this cartoon because it brings up hurt feelings every time I do (which is also why I have waited so long to put up this post) but basically the cartoon depicts Jesus in a compromising position with a “capitalist pig”. (Thanks Gil for the eloquent wording.)

Then I read Jared’s post regarding a movie critique done by a Christian magazine (you can read Jared’s post here). Jared’s post pointed out some disappointing truths about how we as Christians tend to judge and point fingers at other peoples moral decisions.

To follow that up, I also read some interesting thoughts in the book “Organic Church” (which we have just started studying as a care group). In the first chapter it talks about how we as Christians tend to sit in our ‘fortresses’ we call Churches, and complain about how bad the world is.

Somewhere in the middle of all this I started reading “The Journey of Desire” (which I mentioned in my last post). John Eldridge says this:

“A Curious warning is given to us in Peter’s first epistle. There he tells us to be ready to give a reason for the hope that lies within us to everyone who asks (3:15). Now, what’s strange about this passage is this: no one ever asks. When was the last time someone stopped you to inquire about the reason for the hope that lies within you? You’re at the market, say in the frozen food section. A friend you haven’t seen for some time comes up to you, grasps you by the shoulders, and pleads, “Please, you’ve got to tell me. Be honest now. How can you live with such hope? Where does it come from? I must know the reason.”

All this brings me back to this same question, how are we perceived as Christians? Does the world truly see us as the U of S cartoonist shows it? Judging by the article in the Christian magazine that Jared wrote about maybe that isn’t so far off. Maybe we as Christians need to quit worrying about other people’s moral decisions, get out of our Church ‘fortresses’ and start being more passionate about the hope we do have.

Don’t get me wrong, I am terribly hurt by the cartoon and it should never have made it to print. But, the fact that it was even drawn suggests that something is wrong with the how the world sees us. The fact that this is the way the world sees us as Christians says that we need to make some changes in how we treat the world. And the fact that no one has ever asked me about the hope that lies within me suggests that I should live my life with a lot more passion.

Does it simply come down to our desires? If I were to desire eternity more and live my life full of passion due to the hope I have in the saving grace of Jesus Christ, would people ask me about the hope that lies within me? Hmmm….wouldn’t it be great if the warning in 1Peter 3:15 was actually applicable for North American Christians?

The Castrating Quest of Morality

2006-03-10T08:53:00.000-06:00

My decision to read more non-fiction has brought me to a book I’ve had on my shelf for a while and never read. “Journey of Desire” by John Eldridge. I’m only halfway through and already I am feeling incredibly challenged to continue on this path to resisting complacency. The book discusses Passion and talks about the common quest of many Christians to be more moral - to do what’s right and the resulting loss of desire, loss of passion. It took me couple of chapters to figure out what Eldridge was talking about but then he caught my attention with this quote, “How can we hunger and thirst after righteousness if we have ceased hungering and thirsting altogether? As C.S. Lewis says ‘We castrate the gelding and bid him be fruitful.” Aside from being an awesome C.S. Lewis quote it has really made me think about where I’ve been focusing my attention lately and where my passions (if any at all) lie.

I have been on this quest - this typical Christian quest - to do what’s right, to be a nice person, to be a moral person. And in the process of pursuing these goals (that I have set for myself) I have actually become stale, torpid, and lethargic. I have become lazy and void of passion. I have had this focus lately on being nice, inoffensive, and moral - as a result I have become just that nice = careful or fine, inoffensive = dull or bland, and moral = proper and right. Sure doesn’t sound exciting. Yes, there is a place for me to try and be a “good” person but not at the sacrifice of being dull, bland, or careful. I need to be passionate, enthusiastic, and eager first - then I can properly pursue righteousness with the passion of a child that pursues a bag of candy in the grocery store - unashamed of what he looks like during his tantrum.

People used to know me as a passionate person (my parents new me as that child I just described). I wasn’t afraid of a tantrum (not only as a child - even though I was really good at it then). I was unafraid to speak my mind and to speak it with enthusiasm. I didn’t worry about what I looked like when I was passionate about something. What’s happened to me?

I think that a piece of it has to do with my disappointment with the passions I’ve had being stifled. But I think the bigger reason is that I wanted to be a “mature Christian”. The problem is, I had mixed up what maturity looks like. In my mind maturity was this strong, immovable, unwavering person (which may not be far from the truth) but somewhere along the line I forgot about the driving force behind that strength - passion for God, thirst for righteousness, and desire for a deeper relationship with Christ. John Eldridge says this about maturity. “We hide our true desire and call it maturity. Jesus is not impressed. He points to the less sophisticated attitude of a child as a better way to live.” I ought to cry more, beg for what I want more, I ought to desire more - not less, I ought to be PASSIONATE!

Blogging away my Complacency

2006-03-08T14:35:00.000-06:00

Since I started this blog and posting here a bit more regularly I have found myself doing a lot more reflection. Mostly, because I’m trying to think of new things to post up here but as a result I really have been challenged to think more. I know most of my reflections never make it onto this blog but I really am doing much more reflection. I had been coasting a lot lately just going through the motions, going to work, coming home and enjoying my son, working on little nit picking moral issues, trying to make myself a better person, all the while neglecting my pursuit of God.

Blogging has only been one piece of the puzzle. Many pieces have fallen together to bring me to this realization - starting with Pastor Jeff’s latest sermon series, and the follow-up of a great care group night, adding to it was this season of lent and my decision to read more non-fiction, and then hearing Paul Woodburn’s amazing message on the sacrifices of experiencing God and meeting our latest campus visitor Barry and his passionate heart to know and serve God. These are just a few of the pieces that left me with this encouragement to quit coasting through life.

Isn’t it awesome how when God really wants your attention he will tug and pull at you until you listen? I’m really thankful for this blog. Even if only a few read it, it has already done me a world of good by pushing me out of complacency.

The Oilers Goaltender Training Program

2006-03-03T16:29:00.000-06:00

Okay - right off the bat I will appologize if you are not a hockey fan but I think you will enjoy the clip below even if you aren't.

In case you hadn't figured it out already, I am a fan of the good ol' hockey game and as a hockey fan I have chosen to be an Edmonton Oiler fan. I was excited to watch the first NHL game since the Olympic break cheering on my Oilers on Sportsnet Wednedsday night. Imagine my disapointment when the Oilers scored only 2 goals in 37 shots while the St.Louis Blues scored a total of 4 goals in only 12 shots against 2 different Oiler Goalies (no Conklin wasn't even one of them).

Then I recieved this little clip. I can't tell you for sure but I wouldn't be suprised if this is how they train their Goalies. Regardless, maybe they should think about signing this guy - he at least seems to put in the effort.

PS - You'll want to make sure you have sound for this one.

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Peaceful Distraction

2006-02-27T14:12:00.000-06:00

With the situation in my life as it is I should be a lot more down or panicked or stressed or something. But I’m not. I honestly feel more at peace that I have in a long time.

1. My wife is on maternity leave with my son who turned 15 weeks old on Saturday.
2. I announced my resignation from my job in mid January.
3. I’ve applied for positions and haven't heard a whole lot back
4. On top of all that some people that are very close to me are struggling greatly. As much as I want to I really can’t do anything to help them.

Yet throughout all this I feel at peace. Why is this? I think it has a lot to do with past experiences with God and the way he always provides for me and others that trust him. But in this case God has provided me with what I needed in a different way then he has in the past. He provided me with an amazing distraction from all that should keep me down and stressed. As sappy as it might sound - this distraction has come in the form of my son.

Every night when I go home and I take one look at my son - happy all the time, always smiling, so content, no fear of tomorrow and what it will bring, absolute trust that he will be provided for - I find myself relaxing and sharing his carefree attitude. We have a great God who will always provide for our needs. In this case he has provided for me a great distraction and an awesome example of how the Father cares for his children.

Humbled by the Homeless

2006-02-20T08:23:00.000-06:00

The Missions Team with Johnny Boy(left) and Wile E.(back) being entertained by Rosco the Guitar Man

Sitting in on old, beat-up, thrift store couch, watching Law and Order with an alcoholic and three crack addicts sure can destroy a guy's presuppositions. We weren't really watching Law and Order it was more like background noise to fill in the brief lulls in the conversation and give these 4 men from "the program" an excuse to not have to look us clean cut guys in the eye while they shared about the mistakes they made in life.

Gino

"The Program" is a life/drug rehab program in the upper floor of Kelowna Gospel Mission (home to over 50 men and a place where anyone can come to get a meal and warm up from the cold). We were blessed to be allowed to join these men for the week we were helping in the mission.These 4 men shared remarkably similar stories about how they had families with children and how they couldn’t be with them anymore because of their addictions. How the drugs took over their life and they lost everything. How they hit some sort of rock bottom realization that something need to change and now they were in the program to try and clean up and see their families again.

Me with Mike

It was amazing to here Stan talk about how many different rehab programs he tried and how they didn’t work because God was left out of the equation and how this time it was truly different. I pray for Stan that this time it is different. Gino is a tough old man that enjoyed mocking and teasing the guys almost as much as he enjoyed being teased and mocked himself. He and Mike seemed to have a pretty close connection. Mike became a real friend of mine over the week at the mission. I respect him and his love for God and desire to live a clean life a lot. He has moved out of the mission by now and is trying to live life away from the street. But it was Scott, the new guy to the program, who made me think really think. Scott had a young family that he didn’t get to see very often because the work he had to do to support his drug habit kept him working so hard. They were his motivation to get clean.As Scott told his story he reminded the other guys in the program that he was getting a big pay check the next day. Mike didn’t waste anytime, being a veteran to the program he has seen it happen way too much. He started on Scott right away, encouraging him not to go alone. Stan was quick to follow in agreement. They tried hard to convince Scott that he really should not go alone to get his check but Scott insisted that he would be fine. All Mike could say was “famous last words”. Sure enough we as a team were informed the next day that Scott had gone AWOL.

Ryan with Scott

How often do I mess up? How regularly do I struggle with sin? How many times do I give into temptation? How quick am I to judge a person like Scott who did so much to dig himself out of a rut and then give into temptation once and loose it all. This was my third time taking a team to Kelowna Gospel Mission and this time I learned the same thing again. God offers us all forgiveness. He does not discriminate. He does not judge one sin greater then the other. God will forgive us as many times as we ask for it. All God asks from us is that we get back up and try again. The key to it all is that we keep trying. The lesson I learned is that I am the same as the crack heads and drug dealers and alcoholics. I am no different than Scott and I need to strive be as strong as Mike. Thank you, Mike for proving to me that it is possible to beat sin. Thank you, Stan for reminding me that we can’t do it without God’s help. Thanks, Gino for encouraging me that life does not need to be that serious. And thank you Scott for showing me what grace is all about.

Happy Fallappy

2006-01-05T17:09:00.000-06:00

Hello new readers!!

I guess that pretty much covers anyone who reads this since this marks my first attempt at a blog of any sort.

Since I am starting this as a spur of the moment thing just (the day) before I head out on a missions trip to the promised land (Kelowna that is) and since I am in a hurry to pack I thought I would simply leave you with a story that I wrote some time ago entitled...

"THE HAPPY FALLAPPY"

Enjoy.....

There once was a land far from here,
where the skies were clean and the water was clear.
The stars were clear and bright every night,
and the people that lived there were quite brightly white.

This land so clean and bright and clear,
was always able to bring people cheer.
The people of white were always quite happy.
that’s why they were known as the Happy Fallappy.

Then one day in the land of Fallappy,
Something happened that was really quite crappy.
On a clear crisp night when all was well,
Garoopy Goo came! From the sky it fell.

When the Fallappy arose from their sleep,
they say a sight that made them weep.

Their clean white skin was soiled in the night!
Garoopy Goo covered their skin once white!

This made the Fallappy no longer happy.
Unhappy they were the once Happy Fallappy.
For their once white skin they couldn’t get clean
Garoopy Goo had left them dirty, brown and green.

So, the once Happy Fallappy were doomed now unhappy,
except for one person the still happy Fallappy…Pappy.

The happy Pappy was not a bit soiled,
his skin as still white and not at all spoiled.

The happy Pappy was yet a smidgen upset,
for he saw the Fallappy and didn’t want them to fret.
So he set out a mission to tell the Fallappy
of how they again could be very happy.

He would start out small, tell only a few.
Pappy would tell them of the potion Sharoo.
This potion Sharoo was a potion of blue,
And it was guaranteed to rid you of goo.

So he went on his mission to tell only a few
And this is what he said as he gave them Sharoo:

“This is Sharoo a potion of blue
Drink it daily not one time but two.
Drink it up, drink it up, drink the Sharoo,
And that’s the last you will see of Garoopy Goo!”

So he told a few and they became white,
and they again became happy and their smiles were bright.
But as Pappy told some and those became happy,
he soon saw the need to tell all the Fallappy.

But he was just one and that wouldn’t do,
so he gathered up others ten more plus two.
He called them his Twelve as he sent them out,
But not before he told them what this was about:

“This is Sharoo a potion of blue
Drink it daily not one time but two.
Drink it up, drink it up, drink the Sharoo,
And that’s the last you will see of Garoopy Goo!
Now go and tell others about Sharoo.
Tell all the Fallappy of this potion of blue!”

So the Twelve went to tell the land of Fallappy
about Sharoo and how to be happy.
They told many thousands about the Sharoo,
and this is what they’d say, these ten plus two:

“This is Sharoo a potion of blue
Drink it daily not one time but two.
Drink it up, drink it up, drink the Sharoo,
And that’s the last you will see of Garoopy Goo!”

So they told many and they became white,
and they again became happy and their smiles were bright.
But as the twelve told many and those became happy,
they soon saw they couldn’t tell all the Fallappy.

So they went back unsettled to speak to Pappy,
and to think of a plan to tell all of Fallappy.
And after some time they thought of a plan,
of how to tell every woman and man.

They’d send out a message to all Happy Fallappy.
The message would be from the Twelve and from Pappy.
The message would say “TELL ALL OF SHAROO.”
And then it would give them some instructions too.

The message would tell them how to make Sharoo,
And give these instructions to any covered in goo.

“To make Sharoo take a pinch of Plath,
and a smidgen of Chica and a splash of Crath.
Put it together with Garriditty Crumb,
And mix it all up with some sun baked Shrumb,
Finish it up with a sprinkle of Yinkle,
And pour it in a glass that in moonlight will twinkle.
Then when your finished there will be with you
A potion that will surely rid you of goo.
This is Sharoo a potion of blue
Drink it daily not one time but two.
Drink it up, drink it up, drink the Sharoo,
And that’s the last you will see of Garoopy Goo!
Now go and tell other about the Sharoo,
Tell all the Fallappy of this potion of blue!”

The message was sent and obeyed too
And everyone learned of the potion Sharoo.
Garoopy Goo was beaten in the land of Fallappy
And every Fallappy again became Happy.

This was only as possible as the people who were bold.
And as the secret of Sharoo was able to be told.
if the Happy Fallappy hadn’t told the unhappy,
then they wouldn’t have heard and they’d still be crappy.

We’ve all had Garoopy Goo that’s been in our life.
We call it sin and it causes us strife.
Some know and some don’t of the potion Sharoo
It’s Jesus’ blood shed for me and for you.

So this is the message I have for you,
Go and tell others of your type of Sharoo.
Tell them about what has been told to you
Tell them how to get rid of the goo.

By Dave Carey