Tis the season

Despite the title and time of the year this isn't a blog about Christmas.  I do for the most part enjoy the holiday and wish everyone a blessed Merry CHRISTmas (yes I was trying to be as obnoxious as possible).  This is more about the change of life.

I have built a habit for myself that I never live in any one place overly long.  I am a little bit of a drifter I find life a little more interesting that way.  Unfortunately this comes with a downside, I tend to be moving every 7 months or so.  Sometimes I'm lucky and I can pack up a bag and just go other times things are a little bit more strenuous.  This move will be a little harder.  It will take three days in total.  We could do it in less but I don't think I will ever want to do a shotgun drive in 26 hours (at least not with just 2 drivers).

In other changes I am no longer an intern.  Come Thursday my last assignment will be submitted. In all honesty I'm somewhat killing time here, but it helps to keep the church a head of the game.

When we get back to NB, Kim will be back in school and I will be working more hours than are in the day.  50 hours between to jobs and school.  It should be fun, I kind of already feel exhausted from it.  But this what seems right, and it feels like where God is pulling things.  I'm not sure what I'm more excited about my masters program or serving at Sussex Wesleyan.  

It's weird looking around and seeing that I'm now the grown up.  I still feel like I should be the kid on wild adventures,  it's weird that I'm now the responsible one... I don't think I am quite the mature one yet.

In a couple weeks I will be starting a second blog.  A scary thought given I barely keep up this blog.  This new blog will be following the team that I'm taking to Salt Lake in the spring.  It will build from there as the beginnings of a new church plant.  So look out for the Jericho Blogs

Some movies need warning labels

It's fairly usual for Kim and me to go rent a lot of movies on the weekend, and last night proved no different.  There were a bunch of new releases that I wanted to check out and while I was looking for those I stumbled across this movie that stood out above the rest.  Sunday School Musical.

Now, being a pastor I have this slight responsibility to watch Christian movies when they come out that way I can promote good Christian media.  Though half the time I would rather point out the latest block buster and the Christian themes with in it.  So when I see a Christian movie I'm inclined to watch it.  

Now from the cover and title you would expect this to be a Christian version of High School Musical, possibly a slight parody there of.  Unfortunately if it was that it would have been miles better than the pile of fecal matter that it was.  The only thing that was actually decent was the music... well the singing of it.  The choreography felt like it was done in preschool.  The dialogue tried to be realistic, but ended up coming off like a speech impediment as almost the whole movie has bad timing.  And the acting to say the least was flat, but that tends to be common in musicals... just its usually not this bad.

There was also the multiple plot points that keep popping up, but then never have a proper resolution. Yet a few scenes latter they have magical disappeared.  Even the overall plot seems to go away at the end with  out conflict only to be resolved, even though for some reason no one brought up it was missing.  

I really wanted this to be good despite the prerequisite for camp that it had to have with a title like Sunday School Musical (which fyi there was no Sunday School, just Christian Schools).  This was probably this worst idea for a Christian musical.  A much better template would either be a) an original score (already proven to work with HERO!), or b) something in the vein of Across the Universe using reworked version's of a popular Christian artists songs (I'd love a suggestion on an artist that could pull of this).

So if you want to torture yourself please watch other wise, boycott it just on the principle of sheer crapiness.

Costs more than Death

Every night my wife and I read a chapter to each other (this is kind of weird writing in a third person sort of thing when 99% of my readers are close friends, so I hope you appreciate this 1%) from the bible.  Right now we are in the book of James.

I have loved this book for a long time.  It is one of a small series of biblical books that I frequent quite often.  I even took a seminar on this book where I essentially had to memorize the whole thing.  Yet still it amazes me that I find something completely new last.   

James 4:15b and 17 read

"If it's the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."

"Anyone then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins."

Nike might be the Greek goddess of victory, but clearly "just do it" is a Christian thing.  There have been certain issues that I have been wrestling with and essentially over complicating, and these things are several years off.  This isn't how Jesus really works things.  Things are a lot simpler in His plan.  If He asks than you do.  

For me this comes that I am called to Salt Lake City.  So I will go.  I don't need to worry about mother churches, or team members, finances, location, what do I say, or thousands of other things.  I just need to go.  

So this what equates to "Do this ______, or sin", slightly more existential and weighty than Do or Die.

I'm a horrible Blogger

So if I was paid to blog I'm sure I would be fired by now.  The funny thing is in a few months I will be blogging on a professional level as part of the church plant I will be starting.  So essentially a month overdue I am blogging again (at least it's not a year this time).

Recently I have engaged in a new Spiritual journey.  I have found that despite being a person of faith I seem to have very little belief in miracles.  In fact I have noticed that I actually am having a little trouble seeing God in things.  I am not saying I've lost faith or anything, I'm just running into a problem a lot of Westerners seem to have.

It was recommended to me by my boss that I should try the "Experiencing God" workbook.  So on monday I'm going to start it.  I'm not sure if it will change things but I am very open for things to change.

At one point some guys that I would call spiritual leaders saw me walking towards water for my baptism.  They said that I walked with such fervor that they believed I was going to walk on water.  That didn't happen then.  Who knows though what can happen when one's faith is opened to the wonders of Christ.

How you save a life?

Coincidentally a really kewl song but has nothing to do with what I am talking about.  Yesterday when I was in the office a gentlemen in his 60's came in asking for water.  I'm not thinking much of it, people come in all the time for water, we give it away for free.  Then he tells me it is for his heart medicine that he needs to take the pill before his heart explodes.  This is a little out of the ordinary.  After he gets his pill down I find out that he is a recently retired doctor.

Through the conversation I find out a lot about his faith and basically his testimony.  It was interesting hearing him talk about how he was led to a strong faith knowing the miracle of the human body.  At the end of the conversation he wanted to share with a lot of friends about Overflow so he took a bunch of our info.  

When he left his words telling me how we were such life savers, and really meaning it just stayed with me.  Especially given we were thinking of canceling the free water just a few weeks ago.  So how do you save a life?

I heard it... and it was really weird

So I was on the way back from a meeting with my boss today.  As we were having a conversation I heard something come out of my mouth that I have never heard before.  I said the word "out" and heard the dreaded Canadian accent.  This is the first time I have ever heard it seriously.  I have heard it plenty of times when people try to show me how I sound but I've never really heard it out of my own mouth before.  This is the weirdest thing ever.  I now understand why Americans make so much fun of it, it really sounds weird and kind of funny.

On another slightly more spiritual note.  I have been really struggling with God's current prompting in my life.  I really love where I am right now and it seems like an excellent place for me to grow in so many ways but I know this isn't where I am supposed to be.  As I have been coming to terms with going back to the Maritimes, God has given me a huge passion for Sussex Wesleyan Church.  I would say this annoys me and I want to kick and scream at this.  But it is such a burden of love that I can not help but feel peace towards this.  The weird thing is that this isn't staying internalized.  It has just started to flow out of me.  My wife even said that I was seeming perky, which even the idea of such things was described years previous as a sign of the apocalypse.  I am enjoying this being more Christ centered.  Possibly even being sanctified, but I'll let the theologians debate that.

Jesus Eats

One afternoon in a cave far away

A table is drawn for many,

as they slowly come to sit 

each chair hand carved with heart

knowing care given to the soul that will sit there.

As they file in, it is plain to see

How different they are

Nothing in comin' by face or deed.

In one chair a man who has seen little day light,

still baring the chains marking 

how violent his life has become.

The next is pale and sickly

baring legions on his skin

showing a love that has betrayed him.

A general sits down next,

squinting through his glasses

he wonders why the world thinks he mistreats his people,

darkly he wonders if his people feel the same.

Solemnly another enters with a long beard and a head fully dressed.

Lines mark his face from when he has smiled at others strife.

A Doctor is next who feels she has done no wrong

as her actions were all some one else's choice.

More fill up the table with stories of strife.

Pain and fear.

Hatred and angst.

All enemies to those who are just.

Then their host raises his hand

marred by gracious love

for all those who attend

with a small blessing, He says

"my friends let us eat!"

Outside as they eat

There is a deafening roar

Signs wave in the air

to protest the day.

They claim someone as Lord

but little do they know.

Inside a cave,

With those the abhore

Jesus Eats

Pray

Pray for them

Pray for the girl who cries alone with no one to turn to

Pray for the man that took her joy away

Pray for the one that couldn't handle the shame of the life on her inside

Pray just Pray

Pray for the man in the cave who plans away,

praying that you will die another day.

Pray just Pray.

Let the tears run down your face

As your heart falls to pieces

Your knees begin to throb

and your hands blister from your clasp 

Pray just Pray.

Pray for the person in the box

huddled next to the vent just to stay warm

Pray for the man being pulled over for not being the same

Pray for the officer about to make a mistake

Pray just Pray

Pray for the girl on the corner

who is enslaved to a stranger with a needle

 Pray for the husband who hides his ring

as he goes to pick her up,

because those images in the dark no longer work

Pray just Pray

Pray for the child who dies once you finish this line

Pray that the next one gets food

or medicine

or

That Jesus comes and shows us all

That it all means something

If we just 

Pray

I haven't done this in a while

It has been close to two years since i Blogged here.  It doesn't help that I lost my e-mail and password to access it but somehow a new one i made a few months ago works fine.  I did start a thoughts and ponder blog called Emmaus crawl but I started to neglect that.  So now I am back, at least for a while.  

The news of the days a big for those who read this, not really all that big for those who actually know me.  I got married a little over 2 months ago.  I'm on my internship thats why the picture is that kewl O logo that the logo for the church i work for "Overflow: a church for the thirsty"

In other news I'm one step closer to really being a Doc as i will be starting my master soon.  Yay for NTS and there M. Div program

In recent events I just finished a huge Guitar Hero Aerosmith tournament.  I didn't get as may people in as i expected.  But the face time i got with those that did show up was huge.  Never devalue relationship building for small numbers.  I think we will host another one in Novemeber.  Thats all for now.

Carpe Nox