Author: Ron Baker

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!

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.

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!

Thursday and Friday passed away, sliding into oblivion while filling every minute.

Thursday afternoon and evening my sister and her family were here.  Their arrival was heralded by a great lunch – pizza buns.  Perfect for the four kids who love good food.  Afternoon entertainment included parking the tent trailer in the back yard, watching “The god’s must be crazy”, and putting out camping gear to dry.

The evening had a full blown Rook game.  Rook is  card game that brings competitiveness to a new height.  Your bid for supremacy must be accompanied by a hand of cards  that trump all others.

Friday the family left for Rosetown at 9:00, as did we — but we went past Rosetown to Saskatoon.  There Jill had an Echo Cardio Gram, part of her regular routine to monitor her heart’s health.  We ate lunch, shopped, and spent an amount of money on some recording gear for my new computer (which amount will remain anonymous for the moment!).  Our arrival home was a half day later than when we left.

What a week for Jill.  Canning, family visitation and medical appointments.  Today was a rest day for her — now that it is evening she’s up and running once again.  Not to say that life stopped!  A friend from Red Deer came all the way over to get a signature from me.  1 1/2 hours of lunch, talk and sharing pictures together. 

God is good — all the time.  And all the time, God is good.