Friday, March 28, 2008
Words of a preacher...
"He who lives without prayer, he who lives with little prayer, he who seldom reads the Word, and he who seldom looks up to heaven for a fresh influence from on high-
He will be the man whose heart will become dry and barren."
- C.H. Spurgeon
... I think that about sums things up for today!
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Into The Wild- Review
Ever since i first heard about this movie on Oprah last fall, i've been intrigued by the story line and have wanted to watch it. Sean Penn is the director behind this movie that tells the story about a young man named Christopher McCandless, whom after graduating college decides that a society focused on materialism, isn't how life was meant to be lived. To make a long story short, he decides to give away his savings ($24000) to charity, Rip up all his credit cards, ID, and basically get rid of 90% of his possessions and go on a hike through America and up to Alaska. His desire was to live in the wild and discover a life different than the typical "American dream."Labels: Movies
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
We begin where we end!
I've had to speak twice in the last 3 days on the Cross. It's interesting but it seems that these are the toughest talks for me to prepare for. It seems that there has become patterns/formulas for how we present the Gospel during the Easter Season and i was trying to make my talk more interesting and with different perspective, rather than something people have heard many times before!
I was trying to figure out how do i tell my youth group or a group of adults about the cross and resurrection so that it becomes more personal for them? And I was hit with a realization of how you need to start at the beginning before you can fully comprehend the end. What do i mean by this? Well, for example, it's neat that many Churches hand out copies of the Bible to people who don't have their own copy. This is what a Church should do. But what has always made me interested and lately very uncomfortable is that many Churches will hand out copies that consist of the New Testament and Perhaps Psalms... without introducing people to the scriptures of the Old Testament! When you read a book do you start in the middle or the beginning? And perhaps, there's a reason why you start at the beginning so that you don't miss out on very important details that will actually help the story make more sense to you!
Anyways, I decided and felt in my heart that if people don't understand the 3rd chapter of Genesis and fully grasp this in their hearts, they will never FULLY understand the cross! In Genesis 2 we learn that man was made perfect, innocent and in perfect relationship with God. Fast forward to chapter 3 and we read about what has become known to us, as the Fall of Man. We see how a perfect relationship was broken. We see how Man first noticed that he was naked and was ashamed, hiding and began covering up (and we still do today). We learn that sin has entered our world and that things would forever change between God and Man. And we learn of a greater problem = Death!
Now i don't know about you, but this is no minor detail that could be left out of the story. This is the reason for the Cross, this is why Jesus came, why He died and why He rose to life! He came to bring freedom from the wreckage of the fall and reconcile man and God! It's one thing for us to tell people about Jesus, the cross, the resurrection... yet, i wonder how many people ask themselves after hearing about him... but why? I believe that the reason is found in Genesis 3... and if we don't understand our beginnings, we can't truly appreciate the end (John 19:30)!
Perhaps, we assume that people know why Jesus came. But do they really? Do they know about the garden and do they know or believe that ALL of life has become tainted and broken because of an act of betrayal? Perhaps we have to spend some time pondering the garden, before we can actually comprehend and appreciate the NEED for the cross! Anyhow, both sermons went good... I felt like i struggled last night while speaking at a gathering of the Churches in Thompson... but apparently people recieved something through it and God's Word touched their hearts again... The scriptures have a tendency to do this... I must never doubt it and know that it's not about me... These have been my Easter thoughts in the last little while... However, I also learned this past weekend a valuable lesson in how to better communicate a message...
Lesson 1: When talking to a group of youth (predominantly Jr. High)... Make sure that you prounounce and order your sentences well... Make sure that when you want to say "Adam and Eve were working in the Garden" that you say that... and say it just like that...don't say what i ended up saying... "And Adam and Eve were working IT, back in the Garden".... This may cause a lot of laughter, turn a few faces red and cause you to have to laugh along and pause to refocus on the message!
Bless you and have a great day!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
The difficulty of conversation.
This is my first blog in over 6 months, things have been interesting since then. I have now been the Assistant Pastor in our church in Thompson for about 10 months now. I emphasize assistant, because I have finally accepted that it involves far more than youth ministry. Which has it's up's and down sides! It's hard to believe how quickly time flies. During this period we've been able to launch the youth ministry that has been going good and preach A Lot, among other things!
I guess that's what has been on my mind in the last couple of months or so. I have developed a great appreciation for pastor's who bring forth a word of hope and truth to their communities week after week. Up until Thompson i was more of a guest speaker whenever i got the chance to speak in Church. In Saskatoon my job was to lead a discipleship group with the youth and i did this weekly, but i approached it as more of time a of teaching and discussion. I miss being called upon to preach once every 3 months, because I found that it was so easy to stay focused and just give ALL that you have into that talk. I now actually preach about 6 times a month, and have been finding that you have to really be connected to God and His word in order to consistently do this. I have taken a more teaching/questioning/sharing, approach in my speaking and realize that all sermons can't be based around fun one-liners and dropping all your good sayings weekly... Shucks eh... I have always loved the preaching of evangelists and always will, but have recognized that it takes true commitment to be in the word week after week, year after year! Perhaps, this is why Paul was so convinced that a leaders' main priority is to be devoted to prayer and the teaching of the scriptures (Acts 6:4)...
There's a new book out by authors Frank Viola and George Barna called "Pagan Christianity." It is causing a lot of controversy for Church leaders and is attempting to re-define the role of how we do church and pastor them. From reviews I have read, many find the book to be dangerous and full of error. However, I have also read that it may win an award for the book that got many reviews last year, without anyone actually reading it first. I found that funny. It's funny how people rally against certain books, movies and ideas etc... without actually taking time to learn and look into what it is that they oppose. I took a class with Chris Seay in Edmonton this past January and he talked about how "Christians Boycotting" certain books, movies, etc... only hurts the situation more. Why not rather look into it and use these contorversial things as a way of entering into a conversation and being able to discuss and support your views rather than just ASSuming that you are right! You just may begin to see them as a help because they start a conversation for you, in which you can Passionately defend your take! Starting conversations is diffcult, so maybe sometimes we just need to tune into the discssuion that is already happening... Thanks to these folks that annoy, offend and distract us... They may be exactly what we need to have a voice... who knows... I for one will check it out because of the buzz alone. Apparently, it has good material about taking the role of a pastor biblically and really grasping what is at stake... Perhaps, past the disagreements it can still teach, challenge and cause me to Meditate more upon the scriptures and become more of who I am to be.
Anyways, life has been great and it appears that the weather may brighten up in this Northern City sooner or later. For the first time in 6 years i changed my clock back the other day (In Saskatchewan we never did this) and I realized how much i appreciate daylight savings time. It kinda changed my outlook on the day, now that we don't get dark until 8:15 or so. I feel more motivated! Things are only going to get more busy and so i patiently await summer. I love the change of season, especially spring (My Fave, particularly in 'Toon). Something about change is good and yet difficult. Before i stop typing... One quick weird addition to my life this year is... I actually watch American idol and kind of like it... Scary Stuff.... Anyhow, if you read let me know how you are doing and what's new in your life...
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