All's Well!

Here's the thing. You know how when a coffee pot is left on the burner with only a few drops in it, how the coffee burns on and its almost impossible to clean? It starts to stink like burnt coffee, and the whole room needs an airing out? It's not that i left the coffee pot on the burner near empty, but the coffee itself is burnt, and it's time to throw it out. In other words: I'm turning off the coffee pot. Fear not though, for i have been working on something much bigger, much better, and much more in tune with what God has been directing me to over the last six months to a year. People say that change is good. Well, here's to change. It's been good drinking coffee with you over the last year. I hope you'll join me in my new venture.

I officially turn off the coffee pot, and start the siege. See you over here.

Peace in my Heart

Over the years i have tried, and often succeeded in, sticking to Bible reading plans for daily reading. I have read through the Bible in a year with the aid of the plan in Our Daily Bread, and taken the time to read the little daily devos that are contained in them. I enjoy reading the Bible and am finding that daily reading, and taking time to read daily, gets easier every time i do it. Especially when i assign a time to read.

Currently, with the aid of the QuickVerse computer program, i am using a plan to read through the Bible in six months. I love this plan. I tried a three month plan last year, and i stuck to my guns and got through it but the daily time investment felt a bit much. With the six month plan im on now, the reading is about half-an-hour a day, which is easily manangable (especially with the school work load). I have also decided that above and beyond this, i will try to read through the Psalms once a month. If someone looks closely at the songs they sing on a regular basis during worship, they will quickly find that many come directly from the Psalms. I love singing, and my heart sings as i read through the Psalms. There is a Peace in my Heart that goes so deep when i commune with God in the Psalms. Selah.

One other thing i have decided to do as part of my daily reading is work my way through Oswald Chamber's "My Utmost for His Highest". I picked this gem up years ago, and have read through a lot of it, but probably not all of it. What i never noticed before was the arrangement of the daily readings. At least so far, the readings are quite significant as a means of preparing oneself for the journey through the next year. Case in point is the heading for January 12 and 13: Have You Ever Been Alone With God? The subheading for the 12th is: Our solitude with Him; and for the 13th it is: His solitude with us. Earlier readings deal with opening our hearts to God anew, focusing our sight on him, and then comes the focal point: Have You Ever Been Alone With God? What an awesome way to center ourselves at the start of a new year! In Song of Solomon God declares that we will have Dove's eyes, that our focus will be entirely on him, and we won't be distracted by the things that go on around us.

Have You Ever Been Alone With God? today, yesterday, before that? Did you take some time to be with him today? There are so many things that we can do to waste our time, and then at the end of the day we say we don't have time to get everything done, or even spend time with God. Have You Ever Been Alone With God?

Hope for the new year.

Well its a new year, and i feel rested for the next semester, but that's not why i'm posting today. If you have never seen the video below, i ask that you watch it. If you feel any sort of injustice because of this video, pray with me on a daily basis: Jesus, I plead your blood over my sins and the sins of my nation. God, end abortion and bring revival in America. (I consider America all of North America in general, although you can say Canada, or what ever).

Spreading a little cheer!

You know what really grinds my gears? (ha ha! a little Family Guy humour for everyone)
Officially my first rant on this blog, but it has merit.
I was talking with a friend today about how people can be rather rude to customer service people during the holidays. Here i'm talking about tellers, waiters and waitresses, gas station attendants, etc. You get the picture. People are so mean to customer service people.
IT MAKES ME SICK!
Who do people think they are, and where do they get off treating tellers etc. like crap?
Theses are the people that look down on the customer service people because of the job they hold.
The customer service personel get yelled at, and treated like dirt, when 9 times out of ten the things they are getting yelled at for are completely out of their own control.
Take for example the gas station attendant who gets yelled at because the price of gas is what it is. The attendant can't do anything about the price of gas, but they're the ones pumping it so they get dumped on.
These idiots, you know the ones i'm talking about, decide that because they had a bad day and spilled coffee on their tie, they have the right to treat another human being like absolute garbage.
I've had just about enough of these people. So here's what i propose.
It is generally quite easy to tell which of the customer service people you or i encounter have had a bad day. Even if you feel as though you think you should complain about something, instead try to encourage that person and make their day. You will feel a whole lot better, and you may have saved the day for that person. They work so hard, and still have to treat people nice because it's their job, when they are the ones that have a right to yell at the customer. Give them a high five or even a hug. Do something to show your support for their work and the effort they put forth.
It's all about spreading a little cheer, but not just during the holidays, do it all year round.

Christmas Holiday's

With the last youth event of the year having been held last night, i find myself, at least for the next two weeks, on a semi-holiday. Classes at Prov. don't start until January 11, but the youth program kicks in again by the 6th, so technically i only have two weeks off. Of course, once a semester is over, i take time to reflect a bit on what i've learned over the last few months. While i have the opportunity to take a course over the Christmas break, which i will, the work involved should not be that much, so i will plod through that. But that for most is just pointless rambling. What follows is a short list of some of the things i learned over the last few months, in no particular order:

1. The Jewish people are cool. I spent a few Shabbat (Saturday mornings) worshipping with them in one of the synagogues in Winnipeg. The first time i went i realized that what i thought growing up might have been wrong. I was always taught that anyone who is not a Christian needs to become one; they need to be converted. I don't think that anymore. Jews are God's chosen people, and he never breaks a promise, so the covenant he made with Abraham will be held up until the end-of-the-age, when he calls his people, the Jews, and his children, the Christians, into a life of eternity with him.
2. Romans 8 is probably the best portion of scripture in the Bible. Here's the problem. People read Romans 8 and it's good, but they don't read the chapters before that. What i suggest is that when you read Romans, read it all in one sitting, or at the very least two. Read chapters 1-8, then chapters 9-16. Chapters 1-7 talk a lot about the relationship between Jews and Gentiles, and how it doesn't matter what nationality you are, everyone should just get along with everyone. These chapters talk a lot about the law, and about sin. There is almost no reference to Jesus or the Holy Spirit (aside from 1 or 2 references of each). Then Paul writes chapter 8. Can you hear the Angelic Choir singing yet. This is a masterpiece of scripture that can only be followed with the word: Amen! It's stunning. Read Romans like i suggest and see if you can disagree. Chapters 9-16 deal with other relational issues between Jews and Gentiles, and Paul ends in chapter 16 with a long shout out to all the people that have helped him in his ministry up to that point (remember, Romans wasn't the first letter Paul wrote, just the longest, that's why it's at the beginning of his writings). This chapter is a reminder to us that Christianity is not a faith that we live out alone, but rather one of teamwork, togetherness, and community.
3. The third lesson i learnt this semester is that not all writing has to be "Christian" or theological in scope in order for it to be meaningful. I was subjected to some poetry and other writings spanning the last 300-400 years and there is a lot of value in understanding Christianity from these writings. Poets and writers were influenced a lot in their day by the ideas of Christianity floating around. A great example of this is the novel Robinson Crusoe. The author, Daniel Defoe, wrote a wonderful classic, but peppered all throughout are allusions to, and also outright influences of, Christianity. It makes someone think when Defoe writes so openly about slavery, even though today we frown upon such a concept. Remembering the colonial upbringing that Defoe was raised in, it is easy to see the influence of that in his writing of Crusoe. Read, enjoy, and see if your thinking is not challenged by these old writings.
4. Finally, I learned this semester how important it is to have all areas of life balanced spiritually in order to maintain a healthy Christian lifestyle. There is always an importance of reading scriptures and praying, or going to church and worshipping. But, at least in my upbringing, the use of rituals and liturgical readings and how they influence spiritual direction and formation was never stressed. Sure we take part in the Eucharist, and sometimes read The Apostle's Creed, or other such things, but why not more often, or why not different liturgical prayers etc. There are many aspects of Christian living that are not stressed enough (fasting, social justice concerns, mentoring, etc). Over recent years i have begun to see how these are all important aspects of Christian life, but this semester showed me one or two things i had never considered, and certainly clarified many things that i did not have enough information about.

All in all it was an awesome semester, and i look forward to going back again in the new year, to learn, to grow, to be stretched in my thinking. Until then, i'll just have to keep reading other books. First up: Gods and Guitars: Seeking the Sacred in Post 1960's Popular Music, by Michael J. Gilmour, one of my profs.

Braveheart!

Remember at the end of the movie Braveheart, where William Wallace is lying on the slab of wood and the dude is torturing him, he gets asked if he would like to say something. It is at this point that he musters up all the strength that he can and yells FREEDOM.

I feel like William Wallace today, because i finished my exams for the semester yesterday, and with a loud voice, at least for the next three weeks i can yell out loud,

FREEEEEEEEDOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!

Just thought i'd throw that out there, because i know there are others who feels a similar way.

Wonderful Weather!

For all those who thought the summer weather sucked...

Enjoy this beautiful weather while you can!

Just thought i'd throw that out there.