Don’t JUST go to church, Be the Church

 

It’s kind of a catchy slogan, but I hope as the fall unfolds we will individually and corporately get stirred to realize that this is what we should be about. Of course “going to church” is part of “being the church” – getting together centered around corporate worship, going deeper in faith journey, and ministering to and with each other. But there is so much more, more that God has for us. I am impressed with the mandate and response of the first century church, like I spoke about last Sunday.

 

After Pentecost, that first, brand new church was focused and intentional. They took a strong hold on; the apostles teaching (words, life and ministry of Jesus), fel Read More »

A mess of barbed wire…

 

Life seems complicated at times, and we all get tangled up in the complexities. Some of the complexities are self imposed and many of the complexities are completely out of our control. I think that people come to the Okanagan for vacation to escape the complexities, reduce the complexities, or get some perspective on said complexities. Perhaps that is why selling features that say things like “easy load”, or “simplify”, or “low maintenance” or even “all inclusive” are very attractive.

 

There is no denying that there is not an easy fix to many aspects of life. Often a difficult conversation we have with someone opens the door to several more difficult conversations before th Read More »

Some entertainment icons died this week, and it makes me think….

 

Ed McMahon, lauded as one of the most famous side kicks, Michael Jackson evolved into one of the biggest side shows of all time, and Farrah Fawcett, who we saw a different side of, in her battle with cancer.

 

There’s a bit of a multigenerational response to their deaths. Ed McMahon represented a group who pioneered much of modern TV programming and development. Michael Jackson, the self proclaimed king of pop, shaped pop music for a couple decades and cut the edge in music video. Working with youth and teens in the 80’s forced you to interact with his influence on pop culture and music. Farrah Fawcett, marked the 70’s as a sex symbol Read More »

I love asking questions. I think of questions while I am reading a book or listening to someone, or watching a movie…in fact family members have said to me (probably on more than one occasion), “…dad, just watch the movie, don’t analyze everything…” But I like to ask what the director is trying to portray, what are the surface messages, what are the deeper messages, what are they really saying, what is the product placement, who are they speaking to, ….you get the picture?

 

Did you ever consider how many questions Jesus asked? Or how many times Jesus answered a question with a question? And I thought we weren’t supposed to do that. Or how many questions Jesus left unanswered? Read through the Gospels sometime and note his questions and responses to questions, it will be a great study for you.

 

This last week I spent some time on our adopted piece of the Mission Creek Greenway (between Ziprick & Gerstmar). The city supplied “kits” to help with the task. Amongst the items in the kit were aluminum grabbers. They have a handle on one end, with a trigger and on the other end of a 2 foot extension are two small spring loaded suction cup devices mounted on finger like appendages. You pull the trigger, the little suction cups pull together to grasp stuff. In this case its garbage I was grasping. I have seen similar devices in the hospital to use when you have limited mobility and you want to pinch the annoying visitor in your room (that may be my interpretation), As you may have already figured out, I am quite fascinated with this instrument, a small miracle from the engineering world. They were so handy as I trudged through the park, on the path, and off the path. I picked up anything from cigarette butts (shouldn’t they be biodegradable? Obviously, Read More »