Tempus Fugit

OK, this is awesome, funny, very clever, well produced, and exceptional church stuff.

Some impressive use of technology and social networking is taking place over at the United Church’s wondercafe.ca. I’ve had a brief look around and while it’s bound to be controversial, I think it will promote a lot of conversations, which is a good thing. I gave the church locater a spin and had a look at our local UC that I went to as a teenager. Wow, what a great snapshot of what a new person could expect when they go to church. When, where, where to park, what kind of music to expect, what happens after services, and several ways to contact them. Very professional, but then I guess a few million dollars will do that. I hope it works out for them.

Church Marketing Sucks: Using Whipped Cream and Gay Marriage to Start Conversations

With membership declining as much as 20% in the last decade, the United Church of Canada needs to try something drastic. So they’ve launched a $9.3 million ad campaign. The ads touch on hot button issues, including sex and gay marriage. The ads direct people to a web site, wondercafe.ca, that attempts to engage people in conversations about spiritual issues and the big questions of life. They site also offers a church locator.

I was keeping up with a friend’s blog, which put me on to this post and I’m glad I followed some of the  links and arrived here. The whole post had a lot to think about, but the one line that really grabbed my heart was “we stand with him on level ground before the cross”. I read it over several times to let that profound truth settle deep within me. It made me reflect on the sin in my life and my need of the grace of God and the need to consider more deeply my response to news like this.

Leadership Blog: Out of Ur: The Haggard Truth

There is nothing any one has ever done that we –each of us—is not capable of doing. So when we pray for our brother, Ted Haggard, we pray not out of pity or self-righteousness but with a humble spirit because we stand with him on level ground before the cross.

Actually, that would be catch up on reading my personal
emails. More specifically, The daily devotion emails from John Fisher at the
Purpose Driven Life.  Some of the thoughts that challenged me were:

• To be more aware of and think about being eager to do good (1 Peter 3:13).
  looking for opportunities to serve others
• To see my work as worship to God, doing what I was created to do, my very life as a gift from God
• Am I using my uniqueness, the things that God put in me and the experiences I’ve had to benefit others?
• What will we do in Heaven? Sit around or continue to grow and server? If there is a purpose on earth, that there will be an even more significant purpose in Heaven.
• The challenge of many different points of view and diversity while yet being in unity with
  Christ.
• What is worship? The areas of worship that are outside of a church service, and the fact that worship is so much more.
• What is character and how do we get it? (Romans 5:3-4 and it’s not generally a good time at the time)

I shouldn’t get so far behind, this is certainly a lot to consider all at once but I’m glad I spent some quite time this morning to read these devotions and think about what they mean to my life. I’m thankful that John makes these devotions available and that they cause me to stop and think about these things.

Even during this quiet time, life happens, I hear the 3 thumps on the floor above, our family signal to come upstairs and see what’s happening. I have a fair idea what’s happening as I heard some stomach turning sounds from one of the bathrooms a few seconds earlier. Scott’s not feeling too good, perhaps some bad pizza from last night. There’s not too much to be done as generally you just need to ride these things out. I took him a cup of water.

Technorati Tags: family, devotional, purpose, life

Well it’s been quite and up and down day. The first phone call from the SLC dealer indicates that yes indeed the axle seal is leaking but the problem is deeper. A bearing in the transmission is allowing “excessive” axle movement which may have damaged the seal causing the leak and their solution is a rebuilt transmission, for about $2,450 USD.

This was quite a shock. The SLC dealer doesn’t really offer too many options, actually none. They don’t feel that an axle seal repair will allow up to make it back to Winnipeg. At this point, I need to think about things and call Royal Dodge in Winnipeg to see if they can assist. They call SLC dealer and to make a long story short, they decide on the axle seal repair for about $180, which Winnipeg will reimburse. However, after the repair, the SLC dealer advises there is still a small leak. So, we’ll be armed with extra fluid, sticking to the Interstate routes, and monitoring the leak closely in an attempt to get the van back to the Winnipeg dealer for more servicing. Oh yeah, the other bit of news from the SLC dealer is that the seal they removed during the repair, the one that the Winnipeg dealer installed just about 1 week ago is damaged, and in their opinion, it was damaged at installation. There is a really nasty gouge out of the outer metal edge. It’s amazing how much trouble a $5 part can cause.

Car repairs are really never very welcome and usually extremely expensive. We’ve poured an excessive amount of money into our van this year and it’s been very frustrating. But, car trouble when you’re a long way from home is even more distressing. I’ve spent many hours over the last three days of what should have been an enjoyable drive and a vacation/conference dealing with and processing through this issue. I’m sure there is much to learn from this experience, and I’ll need some time to reflect on what has taken place. I know some of it I’ve handled very poorly and let anxiety and fear get way too far out of control. Thankfully, I’ve had Shirley and some good friends along for the ride and they have been an excellent support and comfort in dealing with the issue.

Even when things are so very far out of my control it’s been difficult for me to surrender it to God and let Him get involved. Now, as I begin to reflect on what has happened so far, I can see His provision in getting me to this point. I hope I can use this knowledge and plant it more firmly in my heart so that I can give all my concerns to Him for the rest of the trip home.

Technorati Tags: surrender, faith, trust, fear, anxiety

I’ve been reading the Purpose Driven Life daily devotionals via email, and they are all quite good. Today’s especially hit home, perhaps because I can relate all too well to the authors “peace at all costs” strategy. But the final paragraph really make me stop in my tracks and take some extra time to think about what I was reading. It must have something to do with where I am personally but you probably know the feeling. You see or read something and it has an impact on your heart, a deep down impact that is kind of hard to explain, that makes you stop and think in that special way.

I’m so grateful that “He came all the way” for me.

Purpose Driven Life

If there is a chasm in a relationship, you may have to reach further than you thought to establish peace. You can’t always count on the other person meeting you somewhere in the middle. Thank goodness God didn’t meet us halfway or he’d still be waiting there for us. That’s much too far for us to reach. God did the only thing that could bridge the chasm between us. He came all the way.

This site has a great little java applet that zooms you from 10 million light years away from earth down to the smallest particles currently known to man. While I was watching this fascinating display I couldn’t help but be in awe of God’s incredible and magnificent creation. It’s so big, so amazing it’s hard to imagine. Most of the time we don’t thing outside of are small little part of our “universe”, so it was a good reminder of the size and  our place in the world. How much more amazing and incredible is the creator himself?

Molecular Expressions: Science, Optics and You – Secret Worlds: The Universe Within – Interactive Java Tutorial

View the Milky Way at 10 million light years from the Earth. Then move through space towards the Earth in successive orders of magnitude until you reach a tall oak tree just outside the buildings of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida. After that, begin to move from the actual size of a leaf into a microscopic world that reveals leaf cell walls, the cell nucleus, chromatin, DNA and finally, into the subatomic universe of electrons and protons.

First a confession, I lifted the picture from the Purpose Driven Life Cafe site.

After receiving an email forwarded several times and following a few links I ended up at Starbucks and Jesus
and read the excerpt from John Fisher’s book Confessions of a Caffeinated Christian which I found quite interesting and I’ve added the book to my Amazon wishlist. Being a Starbuck’s fan myself drew me into the story where the authour parallels his Starbuck’s experience with his Jesus experience and I found myself relating and identifying with the story. As is typical with the web, one thing lead to another as I explored the Purpose Driven Life site because I was attracted by the relevance and relatability of the story. I’ve read the Purpose Driven Life book quite some time ago, but this experience has me thinking about re-reading it soon.

The outcome of all this is that I subscribed to their daily devotional newsletter and I’m looking forward to more real life encounters with Christ and a deeper and renewed faith walk with the King of Kings.

Purpose Driven Life: Purpose Driven Café

Starbucks and Jesus Excerpted from John’s book Confessions of a Caffeinated Christian By John Fischer I am a loyal, shameless consumer of the Starbucks brand. I drink my coffee every day out of a stainless steel mug with a snap-on lid I got at Starbucks three years ago. I have a Starbucks cap. I fly United whenever possible because they have a good frequent flyer program although the fact that they serve Starbucks on board does not go unnoticed. I get a warm feeling inside when I’m on the road and I see the circular green logo. It’s home away from home. As far as I’m concerned, there is coffee and there is Starbucks, and that’s about it. Coffee is what you get at Circle K or 7 Eleven. Starbucks is what you go a little out of your way for.

Technorati Tags: Purpose Driven Life, Starbucks