VBS 2006

Here is a picture that was sent to me from Erin Vacation Bible School. This is from the celebration evening concert. It was a great night but really really hot. No I mean really hot! The kids sang their hearts out. It was a great night. Psst...dont tell anyone, but I think I may do it again next year. The rewards far surpass the efforts, which by the way are substantial. Special thanks go out to all volunteers involved in this years program....They work their butts off, while I get the glory work! It doesnt get any better than that!

under construction

thats it...im fed up! Press one worng key and now my blog is all screwed up again. I'm gonna have a fit and say many very bad things. I am so tired of messing with this and getting further behind. I'm 2 seconds from just erasing the whol;e thing!!!!!!!!! I gtg before I do something silly.
I'll try to fix it later when I have patience for crap

Good Bye Bolt - Filelodge

I had to remove my links that make the moving pictures on my blog. They were hosted at Bolt Filelodge but Bolt keep replacing my pics with their random advertising. I wouldnt mind that so much, after all it is free, but their pics are 3 times the size and they cause my blog to screw up. That drive me mental.

Who do you use for free hosting?

Childhood Trout Holes

Well I snuck into one of my old favourite trout creeks on the way to work yesterday AM. After a few casts I landed a little rainbow trout. This creek is a Speckle Trout Creek so it was interesting to get a rainbow. Well a few more casts and I got another one....the exact same size. So this tells me that they have probably done a recent stocking. So I move over two one of my favourite trout lairs and drifted my fly right in the front door.....and...wham!!! Big splash!! and then nothing but disaapointment. Now this fish was much,much bigger! So now the question is this......did they also stock big fish? or did I just entice a Brown Trout. There are rumours of big browns in this creek, but after fishing it for 30 years, this would have been my first. At any rate, after the big strike, the pool fell silent and time was ticking. I think I'll slide in there again real soon!

First Acton Alliance Church Plant Service

We had our first service on Sunday afternoon at Richard and MaryEllens place. It was awesome!

We had cleared out the couches and furniture from their living room and moved them to the basement. We managed to get around 60 chairs in the living room. There was a cubby hole at the side for the musicians. Richard brought in a cross and leaned it against the picture window. There was a communion table in front of the cross. The view was spectacular. There were decorative flowers and linens. The room looked like a perfect little chapel. I think we should try and talk Richard and MaryEllen into keeping it setup like that. Richard did afterall say "This room has become God's room" haha gotcha!

I managed to have an hour alone in the room prior to the service. I prayed, and sat, and played my guitar and sang praises to God. I also found the acoustical sweet spot in the room and wouldnt you know it, it was 6 feet in front and facing the cross. I love being alone with my instrument and my God. hhhhmmmm Well actually I love being with others with our instruments and our God too!

It was a nice service. There were probably about 50 people. There were bible readings from Older and Newer Testaments. There was prayer and reflections. Richard preached a great word about community. The worship music and singing was spirited. Communion was touching. Fellowship was warm and thankful. Ham on a bun was great and the brownies were exceptional.

There is something very special about moments like this. I have been reflecting and trying to really commit this moment to my memory. I have been thanking God every time it comes to mind. Though it was great, I am excited to out grow it. I am excited that as we go out to the community to plant the seeds, that we will see harvest. We will outgrow the walls of Richard and MaryEllen's lovely living room chapel, and then we will out grow the walls of our next meeting place. No walls will be able to contain all the people. Our growth will be a by product of sharing the good news with others, with purposeful intent in leading them to the saving knowledge and grace of Jesus Christ.Thankyou to all who attended and all that helped to make the afternoon a special occassion.

Lord God I just pause from my joy and pride for a moment to give You the glory. Lord God, thank You for for Your presence and thank You for the opportunity to have communion with You. Lord, would You continue to bless us, as we prepare to take Your life giving message to others in our town. Lord God would You bolster our passion, give us courage and walk beside us. Lord God would You direct our paths as we seek You. We praise You and worship You, now please help us to be like You. In Jesus Name I pray. amen

dw

Time Management and "Whats His Name?"

I dont own a watch. Well thats a lie, I have a pewter pocket watch that I got for graduating high school. oh and I have a Bassmaster Pocket watch that I got from my sister. I value both, but use neither. The clock in my living room is a battery wall clock. It has hands rather than digits and that confuses my computer kids. That clock is always set 5 minutes fast. Now we use that clock to set all others in the house, since they require power. We lose our power a lot, so we seem to be forever setting the time. The Alarm clock in my room is set 9 minutes fast to the one in the living room. All of this trickery helps to get us all to work on time. oh heres one...Confucious say...man with 2 watches is never really sure what time it is!. When I was a service technician, I was responsible for time billing. I managed to do this without a watch for 15 years!
Any way, why the thoughts about time?

I learned from preaching today, that I need to work at time management. I always find myself with so much to say, and so little time to say it. Once I have prepared for a sermon, I really ought to then work at compressing it, and making it more concise. It is hard for me to guage time. I just have too much to say. I need to be thoughtful and say the most important things. Dont get me wrong, I'm not down on myself. Preaching was wonderfully exhillerating and I think I did a pretty good job.

Our congregation is very supportive and very encouraging. For me, it was a wonderful experience before friends, family, christian brothers and sisters, and guests and newcomers. I was thrilled to see some old friends from past congregations I have been with.

OH The worship today was astounding. There was a real sense of joy and thankfulness today. Oh and I young lad came up to me afterward and thanked me. He too would like to be apastor some day. He is gearing up for bible college. Today was his first visit to EVAC and he was thrilled. I am sure we will see him again. Any way, he was thrilled with my talk because of his desire to dig deaper in the Bible. He is excited and seamed passionate about expounding Gods word. He was able to relate to my experience in Seminary. As usual , I was too much of a duffus to remember his name. Yes now I am down on myself.

Thats 2 things...time management and remembering peoples names...

Lord God thankyou for your word and thankyou for using me. Lord God, thankyou for "whats his name" Lord I pray that You continue to fill him with the passion to serve You. Lord God help me to manage my time better, and help me to remember peoples names. In Jesus name I pray, with joy and thanksgiving.amen

Sleeping Beauty and Stuff

I was talking to a friend on MSN and it was rather late. When I got to talking about Amos, I noticed there wasnt any response. I said...pppsstt....hello......anybody there?

Wouldnt you know....haha...they feel asleep!!!! One can only imagine what it looks like to fall asleep at the computer. For me, that would be "face in keyboard"! I laughed.

Talking about sleeping people, I got bored of my blog layout so I decided to change it. Now after 1.5 hours of fighting with html I resorted to restoring my backup. There, that will be 1.5 hours that were completely useless and I'll never get back again. Whats worse, is I'm still unsatisfied. I feel like a lemming.....I am willfully and determindly walking myself off the great cliff of sensibility......oh well I guess it could be worse. I could be watching the news.

Speaking of News DID YOU HEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Scientists have confirmed that there is definately a God, and that Jesus Christ is Lord and that He paid the penalty for our sin and offered everyone life in His name. WOW!!!!!!!!!! That is great news indeed!!!!

goodnight

Amos Talk

Well I'm pretty much finished up with my Amos presentation. I am excited to talk. I'm excited to share what I've learned. Last year when I spoke, I was a little worried that I would be nervous. I dont get nervous singing or playing my guitar, but I always thought I would wig-out when it came to talking. One thing I do as a musician, is to start pumpng myself up with excitement before the gig. I will say things to myself like..oh I cant wait...I'm so excited.....It'll be so cool...etc. I fill myself with postive eager anticipation....oh ya and I pray a bunch. Usually, when the gig comes, I'm like a race horse at the gate. I was hoping that I could trick myself this way about talking. Well it worked last year, and I've already begun getting excited about next Sunday.

We had some technical difficulties this week. Robin Cowan had a small presentation on Youth for Christ that couldnt squeeze into todays service and was in power point which crashed the PC. Jessica Thorpes presentation was on Power Point and crashed the PC. I had to tell a joke and pass a bit of time before we abandoned the presentation. Funny thing is I brought my power point presentation to test before Sunday, and it crashed the PC. I think Eric the WonderGeek (term of endearment...trust me) will reinstall powerpoint. In the meantime, we all were given instructions on how to convert the presentations into a jpg slideshow.....haha technology can be a hoot!

At any rate, I guess Jake will be back and have to sort the whole mess out cause thas what pastors do so well. He'll figure how we can squeeze 2 hours into and hour and a half, how to make a powerpoint work on a media shout, how to be in three places at once, how to turn a dollar into five and rid the world of all known disease....well maybe not all diseases. Pastors count on flus and cold for some time off...oops

Hey take a moment and read this passage....tell me what you think
We'll try to make some sense of it on Sunday..................

Amo 1:6 Thus says the LORD, "For three transgressions of Gaza and for four I will not revoke its punishment, Because they deported an entire population To deliver it up to Edom.
Amo 1:7 "So I will send fire upon the wall of Gaza And it will consume her citadels.
Amo 1:8 "I will also cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, And him who holds the scepter, from Ashkelon; I will even unleash My power upon Ekron, And the remnant of the Philistines will perish," Says the Lord GOD.

Amo 1:9 Thus says the LORD, "For three transgressions of Tyre and for four I will not revoke its punishment, Because they delivered up an entire population to Edom And did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.
Amo 1:10 "So I will send fire upon the wall of Tyre And it will consume her citadels."

Amo 1:11 Thus says the LORD, "For three transgressions of Edom and for four I will not revoke its punishment, Because he pursued his brother with the sword, While he stifled his compassion; His anger also tore continually, And he maintained his fury forever.
Amo 1:12 "So I will send fire upon Teman And it will consume the citadels of Bozrah."

Amo 1:13 Thus says the LORD, "For three transgressions of the sons of Ammon and for four I will not revoke its punishment, Because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead In order to enlarge their borders.
Amo 1:14 "So I will kindle a fire on the wall of Rabbah And it will consume her citadels Amid war cries on the day of battle, And a storm on the day of tempest.
Amo 1:15 "Their king will go into exile, He and his princes together," says the LORD.

Amo 2:1 Thus says the LORD, "For three transgressions of Moab and for four I will not revoke its punishment, Because he burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime.
Amo 2:2 "So I will send fire upon Moab And it will consume the citadels of Kerioth; And Moab will die amid tumult, With war cries and the sound of a trumpet.
Amo 2:3 "I will also cut off the judge from her midst And slay all her princes with him," says the LORD.

Amo 2:4 Thus says the LORD, "For three transgressions of Judah and for four I will not revoke its punishment, Because they rejected the law of the LORD And have not kept His statutes; Their lies also have led them astray, Those after which their fathers walked. Amo 2:5 "So I will send fire upon Judah And it will consume the citadels of Jerusalem."

BORING???? Not Really, in Fact, Kinda Kool!

I am preparing for a sermon on Amos Chapter 1:6-2:5. It has been lots of fun. Well not really fun in a traditional sense of the word, but fun in a challenging kind of way. Its kinda like a crossword puzzle or one of the those word game challenges.

I was pondering Genres. For those who dont know, a genre in a biblical term, is a literary style. Three primary Genres exist in the bible. There are Narratives, Didactics, and Poetics. Narrative tells a story like an eye witness account. Didactics interpret events or teachings. Paul was a didactic writer. One can expect that a certain amount of interpretation has taken place. Well Poetics tell the story through images and word plays and poetic devices. They paint a picture for the reader to visualize conceptually.

I came across these two examples of Narrative Versus Poetics. Actually, my prof used these passages as example and my eyes lit up. I am a musician and think on the artist side of my brain. Narratives bore me, as I cant maintian focus. I think in images, not specifics. Check out these two passages, written once in Narrative form, and then retold in Poetic form......

Judges 4:17-21 Narrative Account

17 Sisera, however, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there were friendly relations between Jabin king of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite.
18 Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, "Come, my Lord , come right in. Don't be afraid." So he entered her tent, and she put a covering over him.
19 "I'm thirsty," he said. "Please give me some water." She opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him up.
20 "Stand in the doorway of the tent," he told her. "If someone comes by and asks you, 'Is anyone here?' say 'No.' "
21 But Jael, Heber's wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.

Judges 5:24-27 Poetic Account

24 "Most blessed of women be Jael,
the wife of Heber the Kenite,
most blessed of tent-dwelling women.
25 He asked for water, and she gave him milk;
in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk.
26 Her hand reached for the tent peg,
her right hand for the workman's hammer.
She struck Sisera, she crushed his head,
she shattered and pierced his temple.
27 At her feet he sank,
he fell; there he lay.
At her feet he sank, he fell;
where he sank, there he fell-dead.

So what do you think? Cool EH? OK so its vote time........
Narrative or Poetic? Cast your ballots now!

Can You Spot the Differences?

Can you spot the differences or similarities?

Example Differences: The monkey knows how to use a phone!
Example Similarity: Both hold the phone with left hand!

Rash Over Generalizations Regarding The Male and Female Genders

NICKNAMES
* If Laura, Kate and Sarah go out for lunch, they will call each other Laura, Kate and Sarah.
* If Mike, Dave and John go out, they will affectionately refer to each other as Fat Boy, Godzilla and Four-eyes.

EATING OUT
* When the bill arrives, Mike, Dave and John will each throw in £20, even though it's only for £32.50. None of them will have anything smaller and none will actually admit they want change back.
* When the girls get their bill, out come the pocket calculators.

MONEY
* A man will pay £2 for a £1 item he needs.
* A woman will pay £1 for a £2 item that she doesn't need but it's on sale

BATHROOMS
* A man has six items in his bathroom: toothbrush and toothpaste, shaving cream, razor, a bar of soap, and a towel from M&S.
* The average number of items in the typical woman's bathroom is 337. A man would not be able to identify more than 20 of these items.

ARGUMENTS
* A woman has the last word in any argument.
* Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

CATS
* Women love cats.
* Men say they love cats, but when women aren't looking, men kick cats.

FUTURE
* A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
* A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.

SUCCESS
* A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.
* A successful woman is one who can find such a man.

MARRIAGE
* A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.
* A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change, but she does.

DRESSING UP
* A woman will dress up to go shopping, water the plants, empty the bins, answer the phone, read a book, and get the post.
* A man will dress up for weddings and funerals.

NATURAL
* Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed.
* Women somehow deteriorate during the night.

OFFSPRING
* Ah, children. A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favourite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams.
* A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
* Any married man should forget his mistakes.
There's no use in two people remembering the same thing.

Introspection...part 49

Even when I'm good I'm bad. I try so hard to do right and end up being self righteous. I like to think that I can fly in and save the day with some contrived wisdom and then gloat about how righteous I was to help. We are a sorry lot when we then take the person we've helped and try to make them into some poster child for our own righteous cause. Of course its natural to want to have a real life "champion for the cause" that I can gloat about as I'm trying to convince fellow friends about how great a christian I am. Like this time I went to see Allison Krauss and Union Station. Sue and I had awesome seats for a really great performance. Afterwards we got the opportunity to hang with the band. Oliver, the mandolin player in my band Wanker Deluxe made a mandolin for Dan Tyminsky, the mandolin player for Union Station. While I was standing talking to Don Block, the banjo player, a street person came up to me and asked for some money. Self righteously I reached into my pocket and gave the guy some money. We then continued our conversation about how much we loved the Lord and how we were great christians. So this same street person comes back to me and says again "please sir could I have some more" I boldly say "I've given you all I can give, now scram" We went back to our conversation about how wonderful it was to be christian. I look back on that day with great embarrasement. I should really try to contact this Don Block guy from the band and tell him I was wrong. I wonder if he even noticed? Oh my, perhaps he is as self centered and self righteous as I am. This is but one example. So tonight after Alpha when Mary Ellen, Ellen and I were leaving, an obviously drunk person says " can I talk to you guys for a minute. We said sure. We talked for a while. It was clearly evident by what he said that he was at the bottom. He needed something in his life that could bring positive change. By things he said, he has been around the block a few times. We had a great talk and when we left I musta made a strange look, probably a self righteous look, or a "look how great we are" look. Any way he saw it and called me on it. Of course I was oblivious to the fact that I had done such a thing. It got me to thinking. Perhaps I didnt make that look and he is self conscious. But what if I did make that "smug look" and didnt even realize it. Holy Cow, I could be more sick than I thought I was. Anyway, I told him I didnt mean to make any looks and I apologized if he thought I did. I got in my car and left. When I got around the block I began to pray for him and realized.....I didnt know his name. See thats what I mean. I felt good inside for having talked to him about hope and faith in Christ,and, when I was busy feeling good about what I was doing, I forgot to even ask his name. Or maybe he told me and I brushed it off saying in my head..Ya whatever. So anyway how could I pray for him? Make up a name? Uh Ya Lord That Guy.....? No...........I turned around and went back. I pulled up the the patio and yelled to him...."hey buddy". I heard a quiet voice..."hey its that guy again". So buddy came out and I said....Hey I dont even know your name. Tell me your name. He said Paul. I said thanks Paul. He said "funny you should turn and come back....we are still talking about the stuff you said. His buddy said...OK, If you can tell me how the universe was created, I'll join your church.HHHHMMMM....what and become like me?

Lord God please forgive me. PLease forgive me for my self righteousness. PLease forgive me when I start thinking its about me and my clever words. Lord God I am humbled when I consider my faults and consider Your magnificence. Lord God would you be with Paul this evening. Would you give him the desire to seek You and the assurance that You are there. Lord God, I promise not to use Him as my poster child when You heal him and tranform his life. Lord God, help me to know my place and give me wisdom to avoid the pitfalls. In Jesus name I pray.

I Live a Sheltered Life

I live a sheltered life and I'm not as smart as I thought I was. I have just come to realize that there are so many things I cant fix. There are so many things that I thought I knew but I do not.I feel so small in a great big world. I wish I was big, strong and wise, but here in this earth suit, I find that I am small, weak and stupid....and I hate it....just thought you should know.

Church Visitations

Sue and I have been doing several church visitations in conjunction with the church plant initiative in Acton. Last week we visited Knox Presbyterian Church in Acton. This week we visited another Presbyterian Church, but this one out in Oro Township. The name of this church is Trinity Community Church.

We went there for a few reasons. We were driving Debbie and Courtney up to Camp Minyowe and this church was on the way. One reason is that my old young Pastor Matthew Fox is the Music director there. We really wanted to visit. The other reason is that I needed to see this church. It is a seeker sensitive, modern church that was built as a church for people who dont do church. This church has had incredable growth and has had quite an impact on its community. I would urge you to read this encouraging article from the website found at http://www.trinitycommunity.org/ourstory.html . This chuch has grown significantly!

I was very encouraged to see so many people. They run three identical services every Sunday AM. We arrived for the second service at 10am. We waited in a reception area with coffee and chat, while the first service concluded. It was packed and so was our service. As we left we saw yet another full house waiting to catch the last service at 11:30. There was a good cross section of age groups, but predominantly young adults. There was also concurrent youth service in another room. There were a lot of smiling friendly faces and worship was upbeat and lively. There was theatre lighting and a very slick multimedia presentation. It was up beat and exciting. The topic was part of a series called seven deadly sins. This week the focus was on greed. Matthew delivered a very intense and animated talk on greed.

After the service, Debbie, Courtney, Susan and myself continued up to Camp Miniyowe, where the girls are enrolled in Enterprise, Play a week work a week leadership building. The two girls said they loved the service and it was a wonderful way to begin Camp. We will be out of touch for two weeks. I will pick up the Saturday before I preach at EVAC.