Everything

I was sitting in a coffee shop with someone the other day and this song came on the radio. As I listened to the song it was difficult to stay engaged in the conversation. I managed to shut it out as I was getting a bit emotional. Later I went and downloaded the song on Itunes. It has been my song of worship to my Jesus this week. Enjoy!

Take Away

Here's some of the 'takeaway' thoughts for me from this conference.

Monday night - Pastor Jack reminded us that Foursquare is a distinct family with a distinct call from God. He talked how we live this best when we serve the Body of Christ because this purpose transcends sectarianism and denominationalism. He challenged us then to begin to pray with conviction that there is something to possess. Move beyond passive acknowledgement and pursue the call of God. Obviously, the same would apply to us as individuals.

Tuesday morning - Jack talked a lot. But, what I took away is that we are always in a battle. The spirit realm is real and there is a spiritual enemy that does not want to see us succeed. Live aware!

Tuesday night - Glenn Burris, Jr. spoke how often we go off on our own 'great ideas'. We may have pure motives, but our actions can be totally wrong. There is no greater pursuit than to hear the voice of God - and do it! It may not always make sense to us, but God is leading and working things out to His purposes. It is a challenge sometimes to stop and listen - but the results are only what God can do.

What's it For?

I'm going through Isaiah in my devos right now. I was reading in chapter 11 where it talks prophetically about Jesus. Before I get into it, I recently read a quote in a book by Leonard Sweet, who challenged me with a thought "Whatever the Bible applies to Jesus applies to me". Not sure how far to take that but it was in my thoughts as I read.

Back to it... v.2-4 say how He was given the spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel, might, knowledge and respect (fear) of the Lord. He was given all that why? So that he wouldn't make life decisions or judgements based on what he sees or hears, but with a 'rightness' that only God can lead us into. His life decisions would be based on how he could be (v.4) giving justice for the poor and the needy.

Sooo, if that is what God gave Jesus all those resources for, what about me? Everything that God gives me is to be stewarded to help bring justice and speak up for the poor and needy. As I heard someone say recently, "I'm going to ruthlessly do the thing i do to help those in need."

As I look at making decisions that are life impacting and directing, I have to ask myself how can this decision, my gifts, my talents help me bring justice to and speak up for the poor and needy?

Social Justice

Our church lead a fundraising 5k on Saturday to raise funds to enable children in Haiti and Ghana to go to school. Not wanting to potentially embarrass my senior pastor with my prowess as a runner, I chose to run with my daughters.

I was so proud of the effort that they put in! Anika was the first girl (age 10-13) to cross the finish line in around 23 minutes. Alexandra was third place. She and her friends had gotten lost in the woods following the wrong tape markers off the trail! :) Alaina competed in a 400 metre race for the kids and was the first girl to cross! Great job girls!

Actually - if the truth be known - P Scott ran an amazing race. He wasn't whining about this, but his knees have been giving him severe trouble the last couple years. He can really only run on an elliptical trainer. He ran that race on willpower (and probably some ibuprofen) and did awesome. Great example!

I'll post the amount raised as soon as I know it.

Book Reading Update

Leaders are Readers - I LOVE to read, but I've been distracted by sooo many good books.

Well - last Friday i made the $5 Starbucks challenge to get my reading streamlined. See here for details...Anyhow, I said that I'd finish Heart of a Father and Search to Belong. Well - I did it! I finished them both PLUS I also finished Fresh Ideas! 3 in one week! I was pretty tired a couple of evenings, but I focused and enjoyed it!

So here's this weeks goal - I will finish First Impressions and Beyond The First Visit. If you want to try and win a Starbucks card...

Here's how it works - I'm going to set a goal each Friday. If I don't make (I'll post it)the goal for the week, the first reader to alert me to that fact after 10 PM Friday (in the comments section) will win a prize. If I make my goal, I get the prize. Deal? But here's the catch, you have to register in the comments section of this post by Monday @ 10 PM!

Register in the comments section of this post to be eligible for the Starbucks card

Are You Rich?

The post title is a question I've been pondering lately. Many times I find myself wanting this or wanting that. I remember when I was 18 and lived on room and board for $350 a month and had enough money to put gas in the car. It was great. I thought how easy it was going to be when i had a 'career' and could finally arrive. Yet, our society continually pushes us to want more, more, more. So - back to the question - if you are living in Canada / USA, the poorest among us is rich compared to the rest of the world in which many survive on less than 2$ per day.

Which brings me to my devotions today - it was about rich people.
James 5:1-6 CHALLENGING
Here's the highlights of what we do:
1. hoard wealth
2. fail to pay wages of those that provide our stuff
3. live in luxury
4. live in self -indulgence
5. fattened ourselves in day or time of slaughter
6. condemned and murdered the innocent.

At first, I was thinking this is a good verse for real rich people. i started to think about it a bit more and here are some thoughts rolling around my head.
- There are more slaves in the world now than at any other point in history. Most of them are working providing stuff for the west. (some sugar, some tires, some coffee) Am I contributing to workers not getting their wages by the choices I make in buying things?
- luxury and self-indulgent - Am I intentionally living to help and be generous to others?
- fattened myself - Am I eating 'more than enough' when others don't have enough to eat?
- condemned and murdered the innocent - Am I contributing (by my inaction) to the issues of injustice - sex and child slavery, slavery, environmental degradation, AIDS orphans (40 million in Africa), child soldiers, etc.

Whew - That is some heavy duty thinking... good thing it was only for me and doesn't apply to you, eh? :-)

We Have a Lot of Work To Do

If you have hung around our church for long, you quickly discover that "I'll Fly Away" is not one of our favourite songs. (It is awesome that Pastor Scott would be the leader of that sentiment - :-) ) It is a song that talks about a desire to escape the reality of the world and head for heaven ASAP. The tune is catchy but the words shouldn't be.
The harsh reality of the world is exactly what Jesus has called us to impact with his love, mercy and grace. In short, to pray and work as he prayed and worked, "Your will be done ON EARTH as it is in heaven." In other words, bring what is in heaven to earth.
It is when I read stories like this - Women buried alive in 'honour' killings - that convince me more than ever that the church cannot stay in isolated fortresses and hang on until Jesus comes. We are called to be a force for justice, goodness and kindness in the earth.

Are You a Nagger?

One thing that I have had to grow in is talking about what I'm thinking and feeling so that those close to me don't have to harass me to get information about life, work, and feelings. I have learned that it is not OK to put people in the position where they feel like they have to 'nag'. The other side of that though was made abundantly clear in my devotions.

I'm reading through the book of Judges right now. I just finished reading about Samson. I'm loath to say nasty things about him, but this guy was a bit nuts in some ways. Ok - maybe not nuts, but a bit of a tool.


Chapter 14 says how he sees this woman, tells his parents to set up the wedding. They are not wild about it for various reasons, which proves to be wisdom. (Alexandra - remember that!:-)) Anyway, i think that he wanted to make a little money for his honeymoon, so he has a little bet with his attendants. (again, another little lesson, don't gamble :-)) It they lose, the 30 of them would each give him a 'linen garment and a set of clothes'. If he loses, he'd give them each one. They can't solve it, so they threaten his wife to find the answer. She really works it. "You hate me! You don't really love me." because you wont tell me. (another little gem:that might have been a clue to pull out of the wedding) Then for 7 days (!)she cries about it and nags him until he gives in. She gives up the answer, he gets angry, kills some people to get the garments and walks out.

Think he learned about being a little more careful with people? NOOOO! 2 chapters later he meets up Delialah and she wants to know the secret of his strength (so she can sell him out). He wont tell her (i think he has trust issues now). She doesn't get the message that he is not ready to 'open his heart' yet.

She persists even though Samson gives excuses 3 times. yet - finally she pulls the "you don't love me card". v. 15 "how can you say, 'I love you', when you won't confide in me?" (THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALARM BELLS GOING OFF BY NOW!) v. 16 "With such nagging she prodded day after day until he was tired to death" (that's a direct quote from the NIV Bible).

Ends up Samson is caught, eyes are gouged out and he is imprisoned...

Let's review the fruits of nagging:

broken relationship
lying
30 dead Philistines
stolen clothes
guoged out eyes
imprisoned
shallow relationships

So - still want to be a nagger?

Northgate Team Time

Well, I'm tired! Our staff team at Northgate had a great day together - and learned a lot too!

We were in Nanaimo at Wild Play which is a park of some 'extreme' type activities. There were tree top rope courses and ziplines. There was a big swing that goes 140 kmh and 2 Gs of force. There was the canyon zipline in a total of almost 500 feet! It was great! What was really cool though was seeing many of the staff push themselves do things that were beyond their comfort zones! There were some tears and some shaky legs but people pushed on! At the end, Pastor Matt and Pastor Scott took the bungy plunge! It is not my thing, but they did it and hats off to them.

All in all though, it was good just to build relationships, support and encourage one another as we went beyond what our usual comfort zones. Relationships, support and encouragement are all things that we can use to help us go beyond what we think possible. It is amazing how much better we 'perform' when there are people cheering us on. Think of what would happen to people's lives if we consistently encouraged, supported and worked with them to achieve what God has put on their hearts. We're going to try to do that even better together as staff and a church family.

Relationships. Support. Encouragement. See what would happen in our relationships as we try this.

It is going to be great this year to work with each other to do our parts in the Kingdom of God.
What a great group of people. What a great church to be a part of.

Changed Lives

Alpha is starting this fall on September 22 at our church. Alpha is a wonderful opportunity for people to ask questions about the Christian faith and explore what Christianity is all about. It is exciting to see what God has done in people's lives through Alpha. With the meal, a DVD and small group discussion, Alpha is a great place to go if you are seeking the meaning of life.

With its non-threatening atmosphere, it is also a great place to invite a friend. Think about it - are their friends in your life that need help and change from the inside out? Invite them to Alpha and help them begin the process and the journey towards Jesus.

Here's a story of one's experience at Alpha.

Judy Clark - Since attending the Alpha Course my life has changed
dramatically! Inviting Christ into my life is the most incredible thing
that has ever happened to me. Both my personal and professional lives have
improved significantly and, yes...I have found the meaning of life. Funny
how we can spend thousands of dollars educating ourselves and hours on
professional development, but nothing can move you to the next level like
faith! I enjoyed the Alpha Course and journey so much that I referred
approximately 30 friends to attend the next two courses.

"finding the meaning of life, life changed, personal and professional lives improved significantly, nothing can move you to the next level like faith" - Wow, those are amazing things to be said.

What would it look like to hear your friend saying them??

His Sermons Has Bite!

A Kentucky pastor has been arrested in an operation targeting people with exotic animals. His church has ceremonies involving snakes...and people get a bit annoyed if our music is too loud.
:-) We've got nothing on him apparently.

No Sundin?

The Canucks - right or wrong - made a serious pitch to get unrestricted free agent Mat Sundin. a 2 year 20 million dollar contract offer - wow!  Apparently Mat Sundin is not sure if he is going to play hockey next year.  Apparently he has too much money or some other amazing reason that he has not communicated yet.  He needs more time! What? More time? 20 million dollars / 164 games is $121,951 per game/ 21 minutes playing time = $5807.20 per minute of playing time. That's more than I make in an hour.

With 300 million dollars committed to players yesterday, it sure gives pause to think. What does our society value? We spend millions for entertainment, yet there are still some huge needs in the world. I'm all for entertainment (Go Lions, Go Canucks), but sometimes I think things are just a wee bit outta whack. 

What do you think? Not just about money spent on hockey, but on our value placement seen through where we (as a culture) place our money?

It means right away!

In our home we have an ongoing challenge of teaching our kids the importance of obedience. Basically, we are challenged with delayed obedience, which is actually disobedience.

But as I was reading Mark chapter 1 this morning in the NAS version I realized that perhaps the children are not the only ones that have a problem with true obedience. Something really stood out to me as i read. It was the word, "immediately" which means, "
directly, that is, at once". In other word - IMMEDIATELY.
In 45 verses this word shows up 8 times! I went back and reviewed them.

• v. 10 "And immediately, coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens parting"
• v. 12 After baptism... "and immediately, the Spirit drove Him (Jesus) into the wilderness
• v. 18 After Jesus called Simon and Andrew, "They immediately left their nets and followed Him."
• v. 20 After Jesus saw James and John, "And immediately He called them."
• v. 21 "And immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue (church building) and taught
• v. 28 After casting out evil spirits..."and immediately His fame spread"
• v. 31 After touching Simon's sick mother-in-law (Jesus loves mothers in law :-) ) "immediately the fever left her"
• v. 42 The leper came asking for healing and "As soon as He (Jesus) had spoken, immediately the leprosy left"

What's the point? I saw a few things for my life.

1. There was an abiding purpose (Baptized, wilderness, gather a team, church, healing) such that the next step for Jesus' life never seemed to be in question.
2. The Spirit of God was intimately involved in directing Jesus' life. I need to open my ears and listen ALL THE TIME so that I can be directed and initiate rather than respond to life.
3. Sickness immediately responded to Jesus. Lord, show me what gets in the way of immediate manifestation of God's power in and through my life.
4. The disciples responded with immediate obedience rather than questioning and reasoning themselves out of His calling. Father, help me do this.

Basically, I need to listen more, obey more quickly and watch the good that Jesus does in and through my life.