Hanging out!

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At dinner tonight we had two single parents and their kids.  I love the invigoration of children. 

They look at things so innocently and yet seem to have a nature that can be devious.  Maybe they learn that from us??

At one point the two “under 4” children were “sharing” together.  They would each take their turn.  Then, prompted by adults, they would hand over the toy.  At one point, one child shared without prompting.  You figure the world has just taken a huge leap forward.  Until you check back in a minute as she yanks the toy from the other’s hand.  This would make true reality TV programming!!

The other side of reality living is dealing with computers.  The last few days we have been trying to make a wireless router work for our internet.  I tried updates and firmware changes.  Finally, in desperation, I returned to an old router that jst chugs along and does the job.  Slow and steady wins the race.  Of course, high speed “light” is not going to win any race!!  But now, at least we will get to the finish line.

Maple Creek and Back!

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Lester, who reads this blog faithfully, was in need of a driver today.  His service van was not in good condition and he needed to pick up a substitute van in Maple Creek.

Now, Maple Creek is around 200 or  more kilometeres away.  He could have taken the bus and arrived around 11:50 at night, picked up the van, and driven back by 2:00. 

Or he could call a friend and arrive around 1:30 in the afternoon, drive home and be in his door at the end of a regular work day.

No brainer — as long as you can find a friend!

He caught me in between projects and we headed out around 11:15. 

The road less travelled was Saskatchewan highway 21 south from Kindersley.  All I had to do was follow the signs and we arrived in Maple Creek!

Now, a word about Saskatchewan highways.  Some are good. . .   Some are like the one to Maple Creek.  At points there are unexpected potholes, and gravel patches, and loose ashphalt, and red warning markers, and road crews and all the ingredients for a wide awake — “watch-where-you-are-going” adventure!

Maple Creek is the undisputed hot spot of Saskatchewan.  Weather hot spot, that is!!  And no less today.  The town dips into a valley — we only made it to the outskirts where his replacement van was parked.  We separated to our separate vehicles separately (enough redundancy too often already!!).  The ride home was around 2 hours long.  With missed lunch and coffee breaks, the day was done — at least for my friend.  I still had an evening prayer meeting, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Road trips are great.  Thanks, Lester!

House Churches

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George Barna, researcher and survey taker in the U.S., says that house churches are the upcoming approach to church in North America.  Today I talked to a friend who is in the midst of starting a house church with around 10 of our friends.

I’ve struggled, as an institutional pastor, to understand this movement.  I don’t dispute that this is happening.  In large part it comes from the push to recognize “the priesthood of all believers.”  Add to that a strong education component in churches that has brought the usual person to a solid understanding of scripture.  Finally, put yourself in a society that is increasingly separating religious folk from secular.

Disgruntled people leave churches.  They start their own.  I wonder what accountability that provides.

Others leave, and will leave, because there are problems with transportation, or child care, or other provisons particular to their situations. They gather with nearby believers.  They may maintain a loose relationship with leadership in a local church.

Others see the need to reach unchurched people.  The “institutional church” is not attractive.  They are amenable to a local church but are “unrelated”.

There is no easy definition of a house church.  I know because I have friends in all of these situations.  For the sake of the universal church, how do we show unity in the midst of diversity?  This is the big quesiton that will arise in this coming decade.  If you have some suggestions, please comment.

Cubase and other fun!

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Recording and editing audio has always been a “fun” time for me. 

In my younger years I was a vocalist on a number of recordings (4 or 5??).  Then in 1999 I had opportunity to produce a CD for a friend.  I have played with Cool Edit for a number of years.  By the time you do that, you’ve got the bug.

So, today I hooked up the computer with the peripherals (love that term — just means more things that help me to record). 

There was some level of frustration, but within 2-3 hours I had a four part harmony – 15 second music clip in front of me.  I sang each part and laid the tracks down in the computer program.

Then I started to play.  I tried such things as reverb and equalization.  But the most fun was the pitch settings.  I jacked the voices up into the female vocal range.  And my voice actually sounded pretty good.  Maybe I’ll market it some day!! 

Until then — hopefully a project that has been on the back burner for the last year will come forward pretty quickly!