Well, I’ve got a blog site almost ready to go.
Hopefully by Tuesday you can catch some of my meanderings on things like God, the church, emerging, spiritual disciplines and whatever strikes me at the moment!
Stay tuned. I’ll let you know when I’m up and running!
Today I checked for leaves in the eavestrough!
One blessing of living in a prairie town. No need for a leaf blower! Hurricane gale prairie breezes lift those leaves right out of the eavestrough and deposit them in Ontario, or who knows where!
Which got me to thinking. My son is on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. They stay away from any sign of hurricanes. Better safe than sorry!
So why do we put campsites on bald prairie? Or golf into the breeze? This could all be dangerous to our health.
I’m told insurance companies are even now preparing “Prairie Regulars Are Yearning Extensive Rehabilitation” (PRAYER) insurance. For each PRAYER claim, the insurance companies increase your premiums by God knows how much! The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind!
Satan is alive and well!
That statement is one I feel comfortable in making – but not a statement that makes me comfortable. Here is a personal being whose goal is destruction of his creator, and to that end, the end justifies the means.
Which means Satan will use lies, bribery, persuasion, apathy, deceit and just about any means to realize the goal — in fact, he probably would use any means.
For years we have taken sides on Halloween — proclaiming it Satan’s day. The origination of Halloween had the opposite intent. As with many reactions to pagan practices, the original halloween appears to have been an opportunity to mock Satan, not promote Satan. The following day was All Saints Day in which the victory over Satan was proclaimed.
Here are the last few sentences of an article you may find interesting in this regards
Nowadays, children often dress up as superheroes, and the original Christian meaning of Halloween has been absorbed into popular culture. Also, with the present fad of “designer paganism” in the so-called New Age movement, some Christians are uneasy with dressing their children as spooks. So be it. But we should not forget that originally Halloween was a Christian custom, and there is no solid reason why Christians cannot enjoy it as such even today.
“He who sits in the heavens laughs; Yahweh ridicules them” says Psalm 2. Let us join in His holy laughter, and mock the enemies of Christ on October 31.
I thought I was a new millenial person.
Then I was driving down the road to Saskatoon. Minding my own business. And a hot pink jeep passed me!
The strangest things can trigger flashbacks. I remember the TV desert rats. A group of army men with machine guns loaded on the back of camoflague jeeps. With green, and brown and shades in between. Never with women and never in pink. Always macho!
My first reaction to the pink jeep — “This is wrong!”
What other things bring the past to your present?
Tonight I see my wife, Jill.
I count 12 days she’s been away. And she’s “a comin’ back!”
We’ve talked over the phone. But that never quite does the “in-person” thing!
I’ve laid plans for the next few weeks that we will need to discuss. I learned early in our marriage that all shared activities are fluid until I we discuss them. And rightly so — I firmly believe that marriage is a two-into-one thing. One 50% shareholder speaking for the other shareholder without consultation is not a good scene!
She’s filled her luggage up – in fact, took an extra large suitcase just in case. Included will be baby clothes for a new grandchild due next week. Look for the next travel installment then!
The day was spent together!
I have a friend of decades. We are just now back in the same town.
As we travelled together, walked through malls together and ate at table together, we shared our lives. Its been 25 years or more since we did this. And I’m not sure when the opportunity will arise again.
There was discussion, debate, disagreement and laughter, shared concerns, and God.
I understand anew the need for uplifting support from a friend, the place of needed “wounds” from a friend, and the vulnerability that this all takes.
God grants to us friends – never take them for granted!
I woke up under the covers this morning. Trying to keep warm. With the price of gas going up 41% its time to try out lower temperatures in the house.
Got me thinking. What kinds of blankets do I like to have over me?
There are the smothering blankets. The kind that just surround me and make me claw at them to get a breath of fresh air.
Then there are the covering blankets. The kind that just lay over top of me and protect me from the cold.
Some people are smothering blankets. They dash every thought you have into the ground, freeze out good ideas and generally turn you cold to the great adventure of life.
Some people are covering blankets. They ask questions, point out possible holes in theories and cover the ground before you get there.
Give me a covering blanket any day!!
Regional pastors met in Saskatoon and shared, discussed and planned. Some things I took away:
Farmer picture of reaching new people for Jesus (for those who know what a combine is!)
Adjust the sieves at a different angle
From a plaque at the mall:
You are writing a gospel, a chapter each dayBy deeds that you do, by words that you sayMen read what you write, whether faithlfess or trueSay, what is the gospel according to you
Friday I sat with one of our church composer – Wayne Gibson. He works for the local newspaper and is a true wordsmith.
He played through 10 compositions. This was my first chance to hear a number of the pieces. We are considering putting together a CD. You’ll want to line up for this!
Wayne can take poetry and, with the twist of a phrase, make you see things in a totally new perspective. He remembers at one point writing his first song that was “full of words”. Current wisdom is to use few words – as though the listeners can’t remember anything more!
I’m glad Wayne has gone the wordy way! If we want to expand our musical and verbal horizons, its time the “Wayne Gibson’s” of the world stand up.!
Keep tuned. I’ll let you know when, where and how you can pick your CD up (or download it, or rip it, or MP3 it, or whatever!)
Here are snatches of a piece I wrote April 6, 2005. It’s probably overstated (that’s an understatement!).
Canada, revival and history..
The conversation at the table turned to the local hockey team and how well attended the games were. . . better attended than at any time in their history. With the professionals stuck in naval-gazing, worried about larger salaries and generally lacking any concern for the game itself. . . the amateurs were finding their place in the sun. And hockey (the real game) and ordinary people, were the beneficiaries.
The NHL season was finally cancelled in February of this year.
But who cared? We were tired of the wrangling, tired of the overgrown sports egos who cared only for the almighty dollar. This is the way institutions go – in the end, they forget the purpose for which they were founded, the passion for the game. They become focused on their own survival.
Sound familiar? Large churches all over the country require huge incomes to maintain their buildings and programs, while Lazarus lies at the door. We have always been quick to spend money on ourselves, slow to spend it on those Jesus cares about. Ministry has been about success, large budgets, well trained ministers and an impressive theatre.
But these paradigms aren’t playing so well anymore.
To follow the analogy – it’s all about the game (read “church”). What are we willing to give for the survival of the game? What are we really passionate about?
The game won’t survive because the professionals want it to survive.. it will survive when ordinary people grasp a vision for something larger and more transcendent. And the game will survive even when the coliseums are empty – in fact, the game will be stronger than ever.
If the church is to experience a true revival in Canada, it won’t happen because church leaders want it to happen. It won’t be generated by revival crusades and big name preachers. It won’t be helped by more books and seminars. It won’t have anything to do with large buildings.
Revival won’t come from the top down this time around, because then it will only last as long as charismatic leaders continue to hype it along. And then it wouldn’t be real revival anyway.
No, if Canada is going to experience revival it will come because we rediscover our love for God and His kingdom. It will come because we start to spend our money on the needs we see around us in real time. It will come because we cry out to the Lord with His compassion for His mercy on the world. It will come because we care more about His glory than our own success. It will come in spite of the professionals and the fallen institution because the Lord of History invests His authority in amateurs.