Thursday, June 19, 2008
This blog has MOVED!
i actually want to become a consistent blogger from now on... So i Need a New beginning!
The new address is: www.jordanmc.wordpress.com
Come visit and leave a note! Thanks Y'all!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Straight up!
Is what describes this picture... this is me and Nic at Niagara Falls standing beside a statue of the tallest man on record to live (Robert Wadlow). I knew i was short, but this is a real shot to the ego... ok maybe not so much, but definitely neat to see...
We are back home after a great trip with our group to Youth Convention in Winnipeg and a nice week in Toronto for my fellowships General Conference! It was good to take some time away from the office and "work" and get out... Spring is my favorite season and so therefore, also my favorite time to be on holidays! Not that this was a holiday or anything, i mean i was still working as my Church sent me... right...
Youth Convention was a hoot this year... great speakers, music and i know our group had a blast... General Conference was also interesting... Getting to sit in a room and hear people from the fellowship debate and discuss issues was an interesting experience... not to mention the time in Toronto was great... Go to take in a Blue Jays game, went to Niagara Falls and tried to experience everything, had dinner with my former leaders and people i still love and look up to, read some good books, drank a lot of coffee, caught up with other leaders, and best of all spent time with my beautiful wife! Although, i think i was a bit grumpy from time to time... living on 5-6 hours of sleep per night, can only go so long!
I guess what is on my heart today and over the last week is the whole idea of how we as humans make decisions that we argue are based on the scriptures! I wonder how often we bring our feelings/pre-conceived beliefs into the process and whether this waters down the impact that scripture should have in our decision making? How do we let the scriptures and our emotions help us in making decisions that we believe are God centered? There was a bit of a controversial resolution passed at our conference this past week and i'm totally not saying it should've or shouldn't have been passed (i'm not an ordained minister yet, so i refrain from getting to vote... i know... perhaps i''ll get the added anointing soon)... It was passed and i support our fellowship... But what i'm contemplating now is how much of 'me' do i allow in judging what is 'biblical'?
Take Capital Punishment for instance... I've heard one of my favorite speakers/authors Tony Campolo, once say that it is impossible to read the Sermon on The Mount and not come out against Capital Punishment! I have to agree with Tony... Jesus preaches a Gospel of love, hope, grace, mercy, forgiveness and especially Justice! YET, our human hearts often desire to see JUSTICE be played out... in the ways we deem fit... and so many would reason that Capital Punishment is a legitimite Biblical and Christian response to evil, even though the scriptures may not overly agree with our passionate desire to see justice prevail through these 'means'... and often times, speak very contrary to the way we use them to back up our 'beliefs'...
I guess as humans we are very emotional people and often issues hit close to home... are we prepared to let the scriptures have final say in what we do? Or do we allow culture and our heart's desire lead the way? Just some thoughts... It's a tough battle to wrestle out sometime, but needed nonetheless... It's tough when the scripture goes contrary to my nature and natural beliefs... It takes humility, to accept it's truth at times!
If I could've voted at Conference i honestly don't know how i would've voted on these difficult issues... One thing i now know, is that a vote isn't something to be done carelessly... I think deep study of the scripture and much prayer should go into any decision we make... especially when the truth of scripture is the deciding factor and what we are claiming our decisions are based on... you wrestle with this much? Those are my thoughts today, i'm working on a couple of sermons and listening to the new Death Cab disc... hope you're having a great day!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
People along the way.
This couple is on their way to Mozambique and have a passion for seeing the world, in the land in which they were born and raised come to know Jesus! I dropped them off at the airport yesterday morning and feel better for the time I was able to spend with them!
In the morning service the man spoke about Jesus washing His disciples feet. He asked the question, "If Jesus were to walk in here this morning, would you let Him wash your feet?" He presented a lot of background info during his lecture and it really caused me to think about the whole story much deeper. I don't know if i'd be so open to letting Jesus wash my feet! As God, I look up to Him and worship Him and to think if He physically came into our sanctuary, how could I not just bow facedown to the ground and worship? The idea of this man coming to wash an ordinary sinful man like me... Washing my feet??? It seems scandalous and rude to even consider, doesn't it?
And yet, another man named Peter once thought the same thing and vowed that God would never wash His feet... And yet, Jesus responded to him, saying that unless He does, Peter can have no part of Him! In this act of Humility, Jesus cleanses us and not just us, but our feet.... and I'm inclined to believe that He did this, so that we will be fit for the journey that is ahead for us here on earth!
This missionary couple were so humble, friendly and the love of Jesus was very evident in them... I feel like I learned something by just having dinner with them... I feel like i may be missing something and that I need to look to Jesus all the more, everyday... The way they interacted with our Church and people was impressive... They encouraged us in the faith and challenged us to take hope and joy in our cause: The Gospel! They motivated me to run harder in the race and as far as i'm concerned that is the role of a minister! And the best part about them, was that they would probably be the kind of people who would get down, pull out the cloth/water and wash our feet as well!
Just some weekend thoughts...
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Check these guys out...
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!
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