Robert Newman History of Oil, very clever and thought provoking.
Tony Campolo with Strombo on the Hour – HT to Bill. Wow, there is good programming on CBC TV.
Category: Faith
Things about my personal faith in Jesus Christ
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Hope
Hope in the Bible is confidence about what will happen coupled with ignorance about its timing.
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Sex in Church
That’s right, last night we had a great teaching about God’s plan for sex from Pastor John Burns entitled “What Teens need to know about Sex for Parents”. We heard a few words that you generally don’t hear in church, but it was all good.
Wondering where this is going? We’ll I’m not to sure, but as things would have it I’ve been listening to some podcasts from lifechurch.tv of messages by Craig Groesch and enjoying the Urban Legend series (subscribe on iTunes). I thought I’d check out their web site a bit and had a look at their webcast of a message on, you guessed it, sex!
Again a great message well worth watching, not to mention an impressive web presence and great video work.
Technorati Tags: lifechurch.tv
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A reality check about hard times
A thought provoking post about hard times, pain & suffering.
Cerulean Sanctum » The Wrong Toy in Your Happy Meal
Among all the questions why, few of us take the time to ask if our pain is someone else’s gain. Even some stranger’s gain. Man of SorrowsWe consider the horror dumped on our laps and automatically assume that God’s forsaken us, or we’ve somehow forsaken Him. Yet we rarely wonder if the torment we’re enduring is meant to bless someone else.
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Christmas 2006
The best part of Christmas was being together as a family. The gifts were great, the food excellent and abundant, but for me this year it was more about the family that ever before.
We had a great day. It started with Shirley & I exchanging gifts and going to visit Shirley’s mom at her house. Then we were back a our home and had brunch with Scott & Mandi. Right after that Eric and Dez arrived and we sent the rest of the day together which was wonderful. We opened presents and laughed a lot and just enjoyed everyones thoughtfulness and their company. After exchanging gifts we took a short drive over to a nice pathway and walked for about an hour. It was fairly warm this year at only about -8. Some little boys even hit the slide for some added fun.
Back at the house we all played a new game given to us this Christmas, Settlers of Catan, and had lots of fun. Then it was time to prepare for dinner, which was the traditional turkey with all the standard favorites. The turkey seemed extra good this year and the meal was enjoyed by all. Post-dinner cleanup was followed by another rousing game of Scattegories, and some hilarious answers were given, right Scott? Things that are hidden…! I was given the first season of “House” on DVD so we rounded out the evening with the 1st episode and everyone snuggling under the blankets.
We’re so blessed to have a wonderful, loving and caring family so close to us. Shirley and I really appreciate each member and their specialness and uniqueness as part of our family. Just seeing everyone together, having fun, laughing and enjoying each other was the best gift of all.
Merry Christmas to all.
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Christmas Eve 2006
Today is Christmas eve, and our preparations for Christmas day are almost complete. This morning I slept in a bit then got up, fixed a pot of coffee, and settled in to review last Wednesday’s church sermon on Spiritual Strength. I found the message quite encouraging and helpful for me and my current situation. I’m sure spending more time in the Word will help a lot.
Afterwards, I received my “honey do” list for the day. Not too bad, wash the car and change the light bulb in the oven. This short a task list must mean we’re really ready for Christmas! So, after washing the car, vacuuming and cleaning the carpets I headed over to Canadian Tire to get a bulb for the stove. The store was not too busy, but I did get the sense that there were a lot of guys there shopping for their wives at the last minute. And no, I was not one of “them”.
This afternoon I’ll relax a bit and wrap up a few last minute things and organize a special surprise for someone on Christmas. I was going to say Christmas morning but it’s more like afternoon these days. Eric & Dez are doing things at their house where they just moved in after extensive renovations, and Scott is spending Christmas eve & morning with Mandi and her parents. So, by the time we see kids eager for Christmas, I think that’s just Eric, it will be later in the day.
This will bring a new tradition this year. For all of my Christmases to date, the family gathered together and we all exchanged gifts together. This year the kids will be exchanging their gifts to each other independently, and without us. As a result we’re decided to join the trend and Shirley and I will exchange our gifts to each other on Christmas morning, just the two of us. Hmmm, shades of more things to come? Perhaps more on how that turns out later.
Tonight, I’ll be a our church running the sound system for the two Christmas eve services. It should be quite the evening. There have been many practices for this evening including two Saturdays that I’ve attended and a number of others for the drama teams, band and vocalists, not to mention the pyrotechnics. I’ll see if I can squeeze in some pictures, but considering that the service is only one hour, there is a lot going on.
Afterwards, we’ll head over to our good friends the Ford’s to join their traditional Christmas Eve open house after church. Well, actually it’s just family and a few close friends, and were blessed to be considered a cross between family and close friends. This January will mark our 25th anniversary as friends. Sounds like a good reason for a party!
Upon returning home we might squeeze in one more eggnog as “Santa” readies the various Christmas socks. Some traditions will live on forever, and this will be one of them. Nobody is too big or too old for a Christmas sock with crazy stuff!
Watching the movie The Nativity Story on Friday was excellent. It was a very poignant reminder of the gift God gave us all in his son Jesus, and the part that Mary & Joseph had in bringing the miracle to the world.
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Experiences at church
There have been a number of changes at church recently, along the lines described in Perry’s post and I know that I’ve wondered about some of them. Are these changes really required? Is the effect a positive one? Are we just being entertained? Well, it’s never boring and it’s certainly not the church experience of my youth (thankfully!) and some days I have to remind myself that I might be becoming one of those “old guys” who think the music is too loud, the lights are too flashy and what’s with that smoke? Progress and creating and experience that impacts requires change. Sometimes I need a little help, or a boot in the pants, to accept the changes.
Perry Noble dot com » Blog Archive » Creating An Experience
Seriously–I believe people should look more forward to church that they do 24, Lost, or American Idol. WOW…there’s something…those shows actually put hard work and effort into their programming…and it shows! Hmmm, maybe if the church was as serious as Hollywood in reaching people…we would be reaching people.
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Answers from a squirrel
OK, this is awesome, funny, very clever, well produced, and exceptional church stuff.
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Church Marketing and the United Church
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.
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level ground
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.
