This past week we had our third training session for PRIDE Adoption training. We dealt with the topic of “Attachment.”
There was one video that was played that was just words and children voices. We were warned that many people breakdown during this video presentation and there were tissues at everyone’s seats. After watching we had to comment on what we thought. My reaction was two-fold, I wanted to give my children a big hug and tell them how much I loved them, and also I wanted to give a big hug and tell the voice of the adopted child that I love them and that they are safe in our family.
Lots of reading to do between sessions and homework.
I was reading in the book, “The Jesus Way,” by Eugene Peterson where he writes about going to a lecture by Jewish Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. Here is a quote that he wrote about,
“Nothing is worthwhile compared to this - searching Scripture, asking questions of the text, seeking the Truth of God’s word.” (pg 158-159)
This past weekend we were down in Cornwall again for both services. Since it was the Thanksgiving long weekend here in Canada, we went down Saturday night and stayed over at our friends hotel in Massena, New York just across the border.
It also allowed for us to save some driving time on Sunday, as after the morning service we had to drive to the in-laws for Thanksgiving dinner and then back to Cornwall for the evening service. My wife and I stayed over in Massena Sunday night and the kids stayed with the grandparents.
In the morning service I wrapped up the series I have been doing over the past weeks. I started by saying if you’re going to defy the odds, face your fears, reframe your problems, take a risk, and seize a God-ordained opportunity, you have to be willing to look foolish to those on the outside. Being in the will of God, no matter how it looks is never foolish.
We need to step out of the box, we shouldn’t always do things the way people would expect. We need to be creative. As a follower of Christ we should be the most passionate people.
I closed with how God gives us dreams. Sometimes those dreams are filled with false starts. But the dream doesn’t die. God keeps feeding the dream. God is the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time. When we pursue the calling, God leads us on the journey.
In the evening service I talked about being a Citizen of a New Kingdom. It was a message that was relevant to our upcoming week (tonight really as I post this recap), and in the next 15-20 days in the US. It was a message that was influenced by Jim Wallis and Shane Claibourne both of Sojourners magazine.
I talked about how it is a sad day when the cross gets replaced in the church by a flag or a political party platform. I talked where our allegiance should be, as citizens of a new kingdom, via our rebirth, to Jesus Christ. Our central identity has changed because we have been reborn. Our identity is changed and our primary identity is being part of the church. We should not be tied to any political party or platform, the “platform” that Christians need to stand for is the Word of God.
I then closed with a list of issues that as Christians we should be concerned about, as we should not be single issue voters.
After returning home from the zoo in Syracuse, NY, and when watching the Olympics my wife says, “I wish we knew what was happening in our life right now.” Let me explain where this comes:
Adoption - We have not heard back anything since we had all the references sent into the Children’s Aid Society. The person we were working with this went on vacation in July, and was supposed to get in contact with us to start the home study. We will have to contact them and see what is going on.
Meeting with Pastor - I few weeks ago I posted on a meeting with Jeremy (Associate Pastor). The next step has happened, he brought this up in a meeting to the Senior Pastor. Our Senior Pastor is praying about this, and will be contacting us in the future. This has to do with a calling and a big vision. Please pray that things work out the way they are intended. I feel very strongly that this is a God thing happening.
This past Sunday we went down to Cornwall and preached the Sunday night service. I spoke on the topic of getting into the places where people are, and finding out the spiritual questions they are asking. Then we can work with that and help them along in their journey of faith.
Some things have been sticking with me about this trip to Cornwall, some things that I passed off on the drive down and the drive back home. This church used to be pastored by my wife’s uncle for many years, and the attendance was up near 80. It has dropped since then.
This city of 40,000+ has great potential. The age demographic with the most population surprised me, 25-44. I had always pictured this city as an older population.
I had a meeting with my associate pastor about Soul BMX Racing on Wednesday and he asked me about the trip to Cornwall. Some of the things that he mentioned to me caught me by surprise, there were things I had assumed but I was wrong. This made things make more sense. Now, things have picked up in my mind about these thoughts I had, and some comments my wife made on the way down, at dinner in Cornwall and on the way home.
Well since it was Mother’s Day today, we did not have a Catalyst session. We stayed in the main and heard our Pastor’s wife, Sis Hanscom taught on the role of a man and the role of a woman in marriage and family. To say the least she hit a home run today. She had us laughing at times and completely captured throughout.
My favorite line was when she said something to the effect…
Men do you want to know the fastest way to get your wife out of that outfit that you do not like. After some laughter. She said, tell her how good she looks in the that outfit you like the best and she will wear it all the time.
She really did teach a great deal of substance to both the men and the women today and parents and children. It was great.
To be honest I was pretty nervous again this year speaking on this topic in the LIFE series in the main service. This year I had to also setup for Pastor Jer at the end of the service to launch the Rwanda Clean Water Project in the church.
I started by talking about how it has been grassroots movements of people that have provoked change throughout history. From those that fought for independence to the civil rights movement. Then how there are still many social injustices in the world today: poverty, war, genocide, water, sex trafficking etc. I listed some current statistics from worldmeters.info
• Current population of the world is 6.65 billion people • 18.45 million births this year • 7.5 million deaths this year • 1,333 deaths in 15 minutes on Saturday • 2000 absolute population growth (births minus deaths) • 28,000 people died of hunger on Thursday • 887.24 million malnourished people in the world right now • 718,000 deaths due to water this year • 1.324 billion people with no access to clean drinking water • 2.4 million deaths by communicable diseases this year • over 30 million HIV infected people in the world • 6.6 million deaths of HIV people • 898,000 deaths by cancer • 143,000 deaths by malaria • 449,000 deaths by smoking • 2,000 deaths by pesticides
I then listed some information from the book, "Faith Works" by Jim Wallis. Every though the statistics are older data, they served the purpose.
• The income of the top 1% has increased by more the 150% in the late 90’s • 30 years ago, CEOs made 30 times more then the avg worker, by the end of the 90’s it has grown to over 530:1 • Those that live on less then $1 dollar a day globally is growing into the billions. • The 3 richest people in the world have assets that exceed the combined gross domestic products of the world’s poorest 48 countries • The world consumed more then $24 trillion in goods and services in 1997, six times the figure of 1995. • Basic education for all people without would cost $6 billon a year – while $8 billion is spent annually on cosmetics in the US alone. • Installation of water and basic sanitation for all would cost $9 billion – $11 billion is spent annually for ice cream in Europe. • Basic health care and nutrition would cost $13 billion - $17 billion a year is spent on pet food in Europe and the United States. • $35 billion is spent on business entertainment in Japan, $50 billion on cigarettes in Europe • $105 billion on alcoholic drinks in Europe • $400 billion on narcotic drugs around the world • 1997 the UN Development Program Report claimed that poverty could have conquered in a decade and it would only have costed $80 billion a year until 2007. • Is a CEO worth $97,000 an hour, which is what Disney was paying Michael Eisner and his workers in Haiti were being paid 28 cents an hour.
I listed those stats and information because I believe that there are many people that are looking for ways to translate their faith into a way of life that makes a positive difference in the world, a world with sobering stats such as those.
I then went to talk about the least of these
Matthew 25- 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’37 "Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 "The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
I talk about how it was time to focus on the message of the kingdom of God, not just salvation but also personal, social and global transformation. Which then led me to talk about how the world has become flat, the global world and the local world have come together, becoming glocal.
In our church we have over 20 nations or cultures. Had people give a nice shout to represent theirs as I listed them. We have a great glocal church.
We have welcomed all these nations and cultures into our church, we are blessed by being together as one. We are blessed as a church so we can help those that have come into our church, and we are also blessed to help those in our local communities and global communities.
Being in a glocal world, it is about impact and credibility. People care about where they are hurting and if we can help them.
Connecting with the global communities exists to serve our local community’s involvement in the brokenness of our world. It’s glocal, because the scope of Jesus’ vision is for all creation. And it’s outreach, because he meant his followers to be his hands and feet, moving in love beyond ourselves toward the most forgotten and neglected.
It is Community Home Groups being mobilized.
At the end to bridge into Jeremy coming back to intro the new project, we showed this video.
This past Sunday I started jotting down a list of nations/cultures that were represented at Calvary Church. We have always been known in the city as a multicultural church. Here is a list of our mosaic (nations & cultures) in no particular order:
Rwanda Ghana Jamaica Haiti French Canadian English Canadian American First Nations Columbia Uganda Mexico El Salvador Turkey Albania Bulgaria German Dutch South Africa Botswana England China India Nigeria
There could be others that I missed, but that was a quick list, it is wonderful to be part of a beautiful mosaic of nations and cultures. To know that we are all part of the kingdom of God together as brothers and sisters.
Here is another quote from the book, "UnChristian" by David Kinnaman.
"And how can we be offended when outsiders are living out their true nature? Would we be that different if it were not for God’s grace? When Paul visited the godless inhabitants of Athens (an episode described in Acts 17), rather than shock and rebuke, he creatively captured the Athenians’ imagination, pointing them to Jesus. We too can learn how to engage outsiders in creative ways. Rather then allowing the sin we see in the world to make us withdraw, we can allow it to arouse our compassion and inspire us to make a difference." (pg 132)
This quote feeds into the Values of Radiant Village that I am working on posting very shortly on http://www.radiantvillage.ca.
Engaging outsiders in creative ways and pointing people to Jesus Christ.
Here is a good quote from the book "UnChristian" by David Kinnaman.
"This is unChristian faith in action — keeping people from Jesus. Instead of putting ourselves in battle against these families, remember that true connection to people and to Christ happens most often when we love and serve them. If our concern is that loving and serving them might somehow condone their behavior, we probably do not love people the way Christ does." (emphasis mine) (pg 107)
This past Thanksgiving Monday we were at my parents house for dinner. My sister and her husband were there, and I had an interesting conversation regarding the environment and my faith. This past weekend when they came out to help us move, my wife mentioned some of the recent changes we have been making in our lifestyle regarding the environment. So on Monday, my brother-in-law asked me what was it that made me change in this direction. My sister and brother-in-law are very big on green initiatives, the environment and outdoor activities (camping, hiking etc). So, I began to tell them that I made the shift in my thinking because over the last year and a bit I have been looking into things pertaining to the environment from my faith perspective. I was able to share some with them, how because I believe in a Creator that created this earth, I should be a good steward of the creation. That as a Christian if I believe in the sanctity of all life and I am not doing my part as a good steward of this earth, then I am just using talking points to sound good. This is one of the only times I have been able to talk to them about my faith. They were able to give me some additional ideas on my green initiatives. So it was an unexpected conversation, but one I really enjoyed to be able to have with them.
This past weekend, Ottawa BMX held the ABA Ontario Provincial Championship Series Final. This was the closing weekend for the local club. The BMXÂ year took a turn for the better in August when we made the switch from the OCA Organization to the ABA Organization.
The level of organization, support, professionalism, that the ABA offers each and every local club is just tremendous. We had multiple meetings with the Canadian New Track Development Director - John David this weekend after each race. The material, information and coaching that John David gave to the executive team has been just what the local club needed. 2008’s prospects look to be very exciting for the riders through the ABA program.
The picture in this post is one of the many volunteers that helped out with the local club in various aspects this year. My wife and I are amongst everyone, I am in the front row with the brown hat, she has the black shirt and brown skirt on in the back row.
One of the things that you find when you participate in a club such as BMX is the community that forms with those that volunteer to make a sport like BMX successful. Even though ABA is a massive organization, it is still for the grassroots of BMX, the local club, the local track, and all the riders from 4 years old to 44+ years old. As we participated on the Executive this year, we have come to know others on the Executive more, then if we were just a spectator sitting in our camping chairs.
There has been many different things that we have seen, as community develops, and we have come to know more of our friends. Example, one of the single dads at the track has a 4 year old that comes out that has had 4 heart surgeries already.
We have had some times of personal connection while we were having meetings, and sharing a bite to eat over some pizza. Getting to know each other other then just hauling the generator around the track. My wife and I were able to share about our faith to some others, and answer a few questions here and there. I got ask others a bit of their history, where they have lived etc, not just executive team members, but other riders etc.
All in all 2007 has been a great year and I am glad I decided to be involved more then I was last year when we were new to the club. 2008 will set new goals and challenges, as we grow the club and the sport in Ottawa.
I think if you are a small group leader, with all the teaching I have done in the past and you are reading this, you can see the relations to those sessions.
The following picture is how I have been feeling lately. Trying to move forward with things, but it seems that there is this massive weight attached to me. I haven’t been sleeping well, I have been not feeling the greatest this week, earlier in the week I had a bad head cold. I have been really tired throughout the day.
We have a major move to a new home starting next week when we take possession next Friday of the new home, and we will be carrying two homes for a month, before the sale of the one I am sitting in right now completes. I have been having to drive my kids to the new school in the morning and pick them up at the end of the day…not a huge adventure both ways, but another item to do. We have hired a painter to paint our house during the first week we take possession (man it costs more then I thought). We have to start packing….not looking forward to doing that.
Work has under went some changes in how we conduct our day to day business, have been very busy and things are piling up fast.
Sometimes, it really feels that I am in isolation, and stuck in a box, and lid has been taped shut. People have you pegged, yet it really is not what you think is in store for you. Got to get out of the box and change the status quo.
I have only taken 3 days vacation all year, because we were selling our house and we had to stick around, and didn’t want to use them up on just cleaning and showing the house. I have to use some for the move, and later in the year, in Nov and Dec.Â
With all that, it just seems I am pulling this big truck me….and since I am not Strongman Magnus Ver Magnusson…I am not going anywhere.
I think the move is the biggest thing right now, once that is over with, and we get settled, the wheels should start to move, and then momentum should help some.
Mike Fisher #12 on the Ottawa Senators, signed a contract extension to stay with the team. He could have played the season out and tested the unrestricted free agent waters at season’s end. Fisher would have be a big player in the open market, a total complete player teams relish. Fisher is also a Christian, who no matter how late the game is on Saturday night, he is at church on Sunday morning.
One on the big factors that made Fisher stay in Ottawa; his local church.
Fisher has been my favorite player on the Senators for a many years, not just because he a Christian, but the style of play he plays….a complete player that never takes a night off. He can hit, score, he’s tough, and a leader both on and off the ice.
This past Saturday, the boys went to the UCI International BMX race in Kingston Ontario. On Friday night they had their practice session.
After their session was completed, the pros took the course. They had a chance to get a picture taken with Pro BMX rider Randy Stumpfhauser. Randy is one of the nest riders on the pro circuit riding for GT. Randy also happens to be a Christian.
I asked Randy a couple of quick questions during the practice session after taking these quick shots. He said one of the hardest parts of being a pro rider is being away from his family. He also said, that as a Christian he feels what he is doing on the pro circuit is what a Christian should do, livin it. Livin it, amongst his friends as a follow of Christ.
On Saturday in the men’s final unfortunately, Randy crashed on the first corner (track was slick from some rain), and a few riders went done. He did get up and finish the race. This race was the first race that Olympic points were on the line.
This past Saturday, the boys went to the UCI International BMX race in Kingston Ontario. On Friday night they had their practice session.
After their session was completed, the pros took the course. They had a chance to get a picture taken with Pro BMX rider Randy Stumpfhauser. Randy is one of the nest riders on the pro circuit riding for GT. Randy also happens to be a Christian.
I asked Randy a couple of quick questions during the practice session after taking these quick shots. He said one of the hardest parts of being a pro rider is being away from his family. He also said, that as a Christian he feels what he is doing on the pro circuit is what a Christian should do, livin it. Livin it, amongst his friends as a follow of Christ.
On Saturday in the men’s final unfortunately, Randy crashed on the first corner (track was slick from some rain), and a few riders went done. He did get up and finish the race. This race was the first race that Olympic points were on the line.
Both of the boys took home the bronze medal in their respective races.
This past week we hosted Jeannie Samayoa and her two boys from Guatemala for 4 days. The Samayoa’s were the host family for me when I went to Guatemala a few years ago with Jeremy, Jeannie shared some stories of the recent happenings in Guatemala. Her husband Eri and she are pastoring a church in a town called Shaila, and they took the church over when it had 1 person (regular) and now it is up to 25 families. They just got a building double or triple the size of their old one with an office and
classrooms, basically given to them. It was amazing to hear how all this came about, how God opened the doors for them. I say that because there are things that we talked about that I will not mention here because it something that just stirred me inside, or boiled me. It was amazing to here how they have pursued the calling God has placed on them, and to see how God is providing for them, and growing His church, and with the many political happenings (I think it is safe to say that) is absolutely
amazing.
Something that Christians do to each other are simply baffling. Some of the church politics that go on are an absolute nonsense. Enough said.
When my wife and I were talking with Jeannie till 3am the other night, I kept thinking about the series we had in Catalyst based on the book “Chase the Lion”. The Samayoa’s are Lion Chasers. It inspired me to chase the lion in front of me even more. With what I am chasing, I have a dream because God has placed it deep down within my soul, and I must pursue it even more today then yesterday.
We have started from scratch, and are going to build from there and it shall grow organically because God is opening the door.
One aspect of blogging that I like, is that I can write out some thoughts that go through my head. I know blogging as been lighter these days. Here is the thought that I was thinking about tonight that I wanted to post…..I have for sometime now accepted the path that Christ is leading me….some people may not agree or question it, but I am stepping out in faith knowing it is a “kingdom” thing. How could I not chase this lion before me, it may seem different to others, a a little alternative or different style, but it must be done. The odds seem to be against us, the adversity is there, we may look foolish, but the chase is there….now to sell this house to step forward even more, to begin the next stage….pray our house sells and we can step into this new community for us in Ottawa.
Watch this YouTube video, hat tip Eric Bryant, assistant pastor @ Mosaic in LA (Erwin McManus). Brian also talks at the end of the importance of small groups.
Last night I posted the definition of loyalty. I have had a couple questions thoughts the past couple of days on loyalty.
a. Can you be loyal to a fault?
b. At what point should your loyalty cease towards a particular person, position, job, etc?
c. There has been much said about Situational Ethics, can you have situational loyalty?
d. Is loyalty between friends different when business gets involved, or church leadership? I guess that is kind of the same as above.
What are your thoughts? Do you have additional questions to add to the list. Do you have answers to the above. Drop a comment or email (reg@radiantjourney,ca)
The state or quality of being loyal. See Synonyms at fidelity.
A feeling or attitude of devoted attachment and affection. Often used in the plural: My loyalties lie with my family.
I have been thinking a lot about loyalty this week. A few things have caused me to think about this word, so I went to dictonary.com and got the definition to post. This will not be a complete post tonight, maybe tomorrow I will finish it.
