Pastor Kuyp's Random Thoughts

Another First

2010-04-06T11:04:00.002-06:00

Friday evening during our Good Friday worship service, I had another first, and probably a first for many in the congregation. For our Good Friday service, we had communion, which followed the message at the beginning of the service. Following communion, we had a Tenebrae style of service, where we had a "Service of Shadows" - Scripture reading, followed by a song and the lights getting turned off one by one.

We had lined up enough people to do all the scripture readings, so I wouldnt have to lead that part of the service. I went and sat down by my wife. As I came to sit down, I noticed the nursery attendant came and got her to get our daughter. I guess she was crying inconsolably. Lately at night she is only consolable by mom, so Brenda had to go get her. She came back into the sanctuary with baby in hand. This is okay for a while, but Brenda had to sing a couple of times during the service.

When she got up to go sing, I took our daughter and thought this will be okay, she is good with me a lot. Well, the second, Brenda left, she started to fuss, I tried to get her to stop, but to no avail, she got louder. So, I walked out of church with her to calm her down. I think that is a first time people have seen their minister leave the service with his child. But, I didnt have to do anything during that part of the service. I had a couple of offers to take her for me, but I said it would be okay. She was pretty good as I walked around with her.

It worked out perfectly, Brenda sang a song, a verse of a hymn was sung, and then the Benediction, so after Brenda finished, she came to the back, the congregation was standing singing the final song and I could walk up to give the Benediction! It was like we planned it for this reason!

Awesome Experience

2010-03-27T14:17:00.002-06:00

I know I havent blogged for a while, but I will get back to it soon, I have some ideas written down, so hopefully soon....

This past week I had to opportunity to go to BC to Panorama to ski. For the end of March, the conditions were pretty good. Most of the time, I would let my wife and her mom go out first thing and I would stay back with the baby. They would come back around 11 sometime and I would then go out, either by myself or with my mother-in-law. The first day I was feeling pretty good about what I had accomplished. I was feeling like I was getting the hang of it. The one green run that I went down is one of the highest ones I have been on. The second day, I didnt do as well. I mentally froze while going down a green run, I eventually chickened out and took my skis off and walked through the woods to get down the steep part. (Steep for me at least!). I almost got to the end, and it looked even steeper, so we took a different way. Later that day we realized that the last section is a BLACK! So, I was glad we avoided it! The third day I felt really good again about my skiing. I even went down 3/4 of a blue run. So, I felt pretty good about my skiing this year. I didnt get to go out as much, but that is how life goes sometimes.

It was so warm on Wednesday that the snow was melting pretty fast. When we were in the hot tob, I noticed the groomer was moving a LOT of snow to the base of the hill. I wanted to see what he had to do, so after supper I walked over to the base of the lift and saw what he had done. I noticed he was coming down the hill. I am very interested in watching machinery, especially big machinery like the cats that groom the ski hills. He came down, and backed right next to where I was standing on the stairs, and he opened the door and he said: "Hey, you want to ride?"

I said, "Are you serious?"

He replied, "Yeah, come on in, there is a door on the other side."

I was like, "Sweet!" So I ran around and hopped in. He took me straight up the side of the mountain and showed me how the thing works. He is in charge of the terrain park and so we even backed up to the edge of a few jumps. We drove straight up the side of the mountain, then we turned around and drove straight back down the mountain! It was such an awesome experience. I dont know anyone who has been able to ride in the Grooming Cat like that! I was so excited I had to run back and tell my wife and mother-in-law. They were surprised I was able to do that! I thought that it would be cool if he would ask me, but didnt think he actually would. That was probably the highlight of the trip!

Looking the Part, Pt. 2

2010-02-03T15:17:00.002-07:00

Well, I have had some interesting comments from people over on facebook with regards to my last post. I dont want people to think that I have a complex worrying about whether or not I look like a pastor. That is not the reason why I posted it. It was just an interesting thought, at least in my mind to think about. I appreciate the feedback I received on that post.

But thinking about that yesterday, got me to think back to my last catechism class I had. My class is rather small, 2 students, which has its challenges, but also its strengths. One of the questions that we were looking at was rather intriguing to me as well, and it dovetails the question I had raised yesterday.

The question that was asked then is something like this, "How can you tell if someone is a Christian? What do you look for?" So, I am wondering, can you tell if someone is a Christian? If so, how can you tell? What are some things that tell you that htey are a Christian? Is it by how they dress? Act? Live? Talk?

Another question might be, should we be able to see that someone is a Christian? Anyway, just some more things to think about and again, I would love any feedback! Thanks!

Looking the Part

2010-02-02T10:20:00.002-07:00

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Break Forth Canada conference in Edmonton. It was a great time to go to some seminars as well as attend various worship services and concerts. On the last night, we were able to attend a Michael W. Smith concert. It was a great concert. It was opened up by Lincoln Brewster, also very good. Lincoln Brewster is also a pastor, I think of worship of a church in California, (I believe that is what he said.) Anyway, one of the people I went with said to me that she could not believe that he was a pastor, based on his appearance mainly.

Anyway, On our way home, we got into a discussion about this. (I am sure one of them might even read this as it is posted on Facebook.) We got into a discussion about "looking like" a pastor. Both of the ladies riding with us said that I didnt look like a pastor. But other ones we talked about they said did more so. So this got me to thinking about this. What does it mean to "look like" a pastor. If I dont look like a pastor is that a bad thing? Should I be dressing differently? Should I be acting any differently?

I am really wondering now, what does it mean to look like a pastor? If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I would love to hear what other people think about this. For those who know me, or knew me in High School, or earlier, is it surprising to you that I am a pastor? Do you agree with what the two ladies said that I dont look like a pastor? I hope that some would respond, either here or on Facebook, because I am curious to find out what people think a pastor should look like.

Vacation

2010-01-22T15:42:00.002-07:00

So, as you can tell, I am glad I didnt make the resolution to have daily blogs. But, in my defense, the Monday after the last post, we were able to go on vacation. We left Sunday afternoon, we had soup and bun lunch and our second service at 1:15, so we could finish packing and headed for Calgary. It was hard to believe, but everything was beginning to melt before we left. We stayed at a hotel overnight, and then headed to the airport at about 7:30 am on Monday. Our flight didnt leave until 11:00 or so, but we had to be there early because of the new restrictions on those flying to the states. No carry-ons were permitted, except, purses, diaper bags, camera cases, so that is what we took on. But, doing this meant we had to have all of them searched by hand. We went through the metal detector, then we all got patted down, including our 4 month old baby! We couldnt believe it. But we made it through, and were on our way.

We made it to Los Angeles a few minutes late, but no bid deal. We dropped my mom off at work, and had to go to In-N-Out for lunch! That night I went and played basketball with my brother and some old high school classmates. That was a blast, except I always had to guard my brother who is a lot stronger and who is bigger than I am.

Tuesday was pretty much a blur, I dont remember what we did. Wednesday night we were able to meet up with some friends for dinner, which was really good. It has been a year and a half since seeing them, so it was long over due. Thursday we left for Palm Springs. We met up with a friend and his wife. It had been three and a half years since we had seen him. When they came to the condo we were staying at, someone made the comment "who would have thought at the last time you saw each other, the next time you would see each other, he would have a wife, and you would have a baby!" It was a lot of fun hanging out with them. On Friday we went up the Palm Springs tram and looked around up there. You go from about 2000 feet to 8000 feet in 10 minutes. It was quite a view from up there. Friday night we said goodbye to them, and the rest of my family joined us at the condo.

Saturday, the guys went and played golf. I am happy to say, that my brother and I tied but, most importantly, we beat our dad! Ha ha ha. Sitting by the outdoor pool in January, was awesome.

Sunday we went to a large church out there. It was a really good service. The only sad part about going to Palm Springs for the weekend was the fact that we couldnt go to my home church to see a lot of people that we missed seeing. We spent Sunday afternoon by the pool, it was a relaxing weekend. Monday we left and hit the downpour that all of California was experiencing.

Tuesday Brenda needed to shop, so she did! She was very successful, I guess...BUt it was fun trying to get the stroller out and in the vehicle in the pouring rain. I was wearing shorts for the principle of the fact we were in California. It was raining so hard that when a car drove past me rather slowly, it splashed enough water on my legs to soak my feet.

Wednesday we got up and went for breakfast with my Mom, Dad and Grandma. THen we left for the airport. We had great flights both ways. Our daughter did really well, and slept most of both flights! It was a much needed vacation as it was very relaxing. But it is also good to be home.

New Years Resolution: Daily Blogs!

2010-01-04T09:54:00.002-07:00

Ha ha ha, Gotcha! Like that would actually happen. I am still trying to get in the routine of writing my thoughts down on here. I dont know how many people actually read this anyway, but it is a good practice at least for me to get some of my thoughts down. One of the problems with this is the fact that there are things that I dont know if it is good enough to write down. Another is that I havent completely thought them through all the way. I will try better at updating this, perhaps weekly. I did alright there for a bit, but then life got crazy busy and I just stopped writing.

Something that I have been thinking about lately has been the season of Christmas. This is a busy time for my colleagues and myself. I was very grateful that my church didnt give me any extra services. I mean we had Christmas and New Years day, but then we canceled the evening services on the Sundays after both of them. That has helped me a ton. I feel for my colleagues who have something like 8 services to plan in just over a 10 day span. It is challenging for myself, and maybe other pastors to really try to enjoy Christmas. It is a busy time and so much pressure it is hard to actually listen to the story yourself and hear the Gospel.

It is also hard for pastors and their families, (I know at least for us it is difficult sometimes) because Christmas is a time to be with family. We are not close to any family at all, and people ask, "So are you going home for Christmas?" Or they ask, "Is anyone coming to see you for Chrismtas?" The answer generally is no. We were fortunate enough at American Thanksgiving to have both of our families up here for our daughter's baptism. It is difficult to be away from family, but we know we are called to be here and to minister at the same time.

The thing that has really helped my wife and I is the fact that our Church Family is so hospitable. There has never been a lack for an invitation to someone else's family celebration. This year was the first year for me as a dad. It was really special to celebrate with my wife and almost 4 month old daughter. But it was also really special to really feel as if we belong as family to so many people in this church. There are some really wonderful people here!

Next week we look forward to some time down in California with my family. It will be a much needed break, at least for me. We are really looking forward to relaxing and visiting with family and friends.

God's Promises

2009-12-03T11:22:00.002-07:00

This past Sunday was a very special Sunday for our little family. Brenda and I were able to present Irena for baptism. It was amazing to be able to hear the form read and to hear all that God promises in baptism. I have heard that form for my entire life and also have read it during other baptisms. But sitting there and hearing it read and knowing that it is applying to my own daughter was something else. It was a special gift to be able to hear these promises.

It was also very special to be able to baptize my own daughter. It was a very special moment in our families life. It was awesome to be able to share this with our immediate family as Brenda's parents as well as my parents, brother and grandma were all able to come. It is also very special to be able to answer the questions, and then to hear the congregations response to their promise of support in helping to raise our daughter! It truly speaks to the family of God! What an amazing Sunday!

Dirty Knotty Blankie

2009-11-10T10:59:00.002-07:00

This past Sunday I had the day off. I did not have to preach at either of the services. In fact my neighbor said to me that I am becoming a part time minister, I mean, I didnt even have to work the 2 hours a week that I normally have to work! :) (This coming from a neighbor who is a self proclaimed AAA Farmer, April, August and Arizona! Meaning they only work two months and then spend time in Arizona! That made me laugh!) Anyway, it was very refreshing to have Sunday off.

We had a guest minister who I have never heard preach before, but have heard his reports 2 times a year for the last 2 years. He is the Chaplain at the University of Calgary for the CRC. It was refreshing to be able to listen to good preaching. (Someone else said to me, "That is what others in our church were saying! ha ha ha). In the morning service though, he really tied in neatly with something I had talked about a couple of weeks ago.

A couple of weeks ago, I had done something pretty scandalous...I wore jeans and a t-shirt with a devilish looking skull with a cross going through it to church. I was talking about "By Faith alone" and how we all agree it isnt by our works, but but faith in Christ alone that saves us. The point I was trying to make was the fact that we agree with this, but how many people in our churches would accept someone coming to church dressed in this way? Every single person that morning had some thought in their mind about what I was wearing. It really helped to prove my point.

Sunday we heard about the fact that Jesus was hanging out with Prostitutes and Sinners! (gasp!) The pastor shared with us from Phillip Yancey's book "What's So Amazing about Grace" a story of a prostitute who needed to employ her 2 year old daughter. She said something along the lines of, "Why would I go to church? They just make you feel so bad." The pastor went on to talk about the fact that it was people like her, that Jesus hung out with. It wasnt the people in the suits, which we could almost associate many "Church people" as the modern day pharisees.

He used an analogy that was very moving. He talked about his kids and their blankies and how important those blankies are to his kids. The most important thing to take on any trip is those "dirty, knotty blankies." We are like the dirty knotty blankies to Jesus. He rejoices over us, like when he finds his lost sheep. He finds us and celebrates over us. The pastor's point, how do we react over the "lost sheep" are we part of the 99 that dont need to be saved? Do we accept the prostitute at our church? Or do we make her feel bad? It really tied in with my point of my friend who designed the shirt I wore to church that one Sunday.

The afternoon was equally was refreshing. I could go on and on about that here. It is amazing to me to see how a day off like that can really energize me and refresh me. I really needed that, especially as we head into the Advent/Christmas season.

New Hobby

2009-11-03T13:55:00.002-07:00

I am finding that the more I try new things, especially new sports, I really like them. My latest thing that I found to be really fun is fly fishing. A few weeks ago I went with someone on a Monday evening. We got to the river about 4-4:30. We had to hike down to the river from the road. It was a place where the guy I went with said, "We will catch fish." Not many people go there since you have to hike down hill a bit. He also said to me, "I dont want to scare you, but I have bear spray just in case." I thought to myself, "good to know!" He said he has never encountered a bear, but he doesnt want to be caught empty handed if one did come on him.

But I tell you what, that was something I really enjoyed. We spent about 3 hours in the river fishing. By the end my feet were frozen! It is a sport that requires a lot of attention. Afterward I said I could see how a bear could sneak up on you. You are so focused on the fly and the river that you lose almost an awareness of your surroundings. It was absolutely amazing to be out in the mountains, in God's creation just enjoying his creation. It was extremely relaxing, yet not boring at the same time.

I like regular fishing as well, but after trying fly fishing only this one time, I think I might prefer it. You are constantly doing something as you fish. And it takes some skill. So, for my birthday last week, my wife bought me one of this guys fly rods and reel set up. I am excited to try my new hobby more and more...but unfortunately I have to wait until next season! Oh well, Ski season is right around the corner!!

Oh yeah, we did catch a bunch of little fish, but we let them all go.

Time Flies

2009-10-15T10:25:00.002-06:00

I cannot believe that 5 weeks ago today, our daughter was born. It is just amazing how fast time goes these days. As I look at my blog, I notice it has been a month since I posted last. It isnt that I havent had anything to write about, it just isnt something I had as a priority I guess.

One of the things that I am finding is that it is difficult to focus while at work. I know this sounds like a familiar theme as of late, but now it is hard because it would be so nice to just be upstairs with Brenda and Irena. I need to really get myself to focus and get my work done. It isnt always an easy thing to do. I am glad that I have support from the church, and they have been really gracious to us in this time. We feel right at home here.

Great news

2009-09-16T14:49:00.001-06:00

So, I know I am not always a "regular poster" but, I try to do one a week if not more. Well, I have an excuse for the longer time between posts. Last week Wednesday night, my wife's water broke and away we went to the hospital. Normally people would be excited about this, but my wife wasnt due for another 5 weeks. This is kind of scary. When we got to the hospital, they looked at her and said, "well, you arent going home!" Exactly 12 hours after her water broke we welcomed to the world our little daughter. She was 6lbs and 20 inches long. It is amazing to me to see again God's faithfulness. He watched over them in the accident, and watched over our daughter even though she was early, there was nothing wrong. She was out of NICU by Thursday evening and they both came home on Saturday! God is Good!

Feeling Torn

2009-08-27T14:38:00.002-06:00

The past two weeks have been topsy-turvy for me. With the accident and all, my mind has not been too focused. This week I felt that I was geared up for the week. But there is a lot going on. There is a lot that has to be done. Now with the fact that we need to find a new vehicle, my mind is constantly thinking about that and what we should do. I havent had too much time to think about it, so I have talked to a lot of people. It is something we just werent planning on.

We got good news from insurance, but the bad news is, the second we settle with them, then we lose coverage for our rental vehicle. Which means that we have to figure out how to live again with one vehicle, or what we should do, we are not sure.

With that on my mind, I have tried to stay diligent and get my work finished. I was able to "finish" one sermon already yesterday. Which I thought was good. Now I turn to look at what I am going to preach on, I feel really torn. I began an series last week on "Life's Toughest Questions" found at the Calvin Institute for Christian worship. This weeks Question, "Why isnt life more fair?" As I began reading the "sermon notes" and the passage, I really began to feel torn.

What do I feel torn about? Well, this is a great question, that many people ask in their lifetime. I think it is one worth covering. But I wish I had more time to cover this question. I feel now there is a time crunch to get the sermon finished before Saturday, because I have to lead a candle light vigil for the family I did the funeral for a few weeks back. I would love to spend a lot of time on this sermon, but I feel I dont have that much time.

I feel torn because I would love to spend more time reflecting on this question, but dont have that much time. And I feel guilty with thinking that I shouldnt spend too much time on it if not that many people are there. Does the evening sermon deserve as much time as the morning sermon? Or should one focus more time on the morning, just because more people will be there? So, yeah, I feel torn. Instead of spending the time on it, I decide to waste time by blogging about it, ha ha ha!

Needing a clear mind

2009-08-25T10:17:00.003-06:00

Last week I did not have to preach on Sunday, as there is 5 Sundays in August. Generally it is a great week to catch up with office work as well as some of my visits. Well, as my earlier posts shows, my week was kind of thrown for a loop. I am very thankful that everything is okay with Brenda and the baby. But wow, what a crazy week it was.

We had planned to go to Great Falls Montana to do some shopping for baby stuff. Everything is so much cheaper in the States, as well as no sales tax in Montana, what a sweet deal that is! We went down as planned and stayed by some friends in Conrad Montana. It was a great weekend. Saturday morning I golfed while Brenda shopped, good trade I thought! Then we met up and shopped some more! We got a lot of baby things.

Sunday we went to my friends church, which was a good experience. After lunch we headed home, taking the "scenic" route. We drove over to Glacier National park and drove the "Going to the Sun" road. That is an amazing road. You drive along the edge, and I mean edge of the mountain. It is so narrow that you could give other drivers a "high-five" as you drive past each other. It was pretty awesome.

But now as we are home, we have to get back to reality. I have one coat of paint in the "nursery" already yesterday. I can finish that today hopefully. We also have to wait ot hear from the insurance about our car. I have a feeling it will be totaled, but then we have to start the whole car shopping experience all over again. Do we get a minivan or car? Do we get used or new? So many things to think about.

I need to get my mind back into the sermon writing mode for this week. After last week it is a challenge. But, this weekend refreshed me and challenged me. It is good to see colleagues and how they preach in their "style." It was good to get away after all of what happened last week. But now, there is so much to do and only so little time. The baby is due in 6-8 weeks, crazy crazy!

Brenda's Accident

2009-08-20T12:41:00.002-06:00

Yesterday morning was quite an eventful morning to say the least. Brenda had said goodbye and that she was going to go to work. I was going to sleep for another 20-30 minutes. About 10 minutes later the phone rang and she was all upset saying I needed to come get her, she had been in an accident.

She didnt see a van stopping to make a left turn down our highway. We waited until the fire department came and they said we should go in immediately since she is 31-32 weeks pregnant. We went to the Emergency and they sent us right away to Labor and delivery and did a stress test I think they called it on her and the baby. Everything seemed fine, so they called her doctor. He wanted to keep her there for a few hours to observe her and do another test. So we went back down to emergency, they checked out her knee which she had banged up and there was no crack or anything, so that was good. We went back upstairs and they did another stress test and they said that was good as well. So we were allowed to go home.

This morning we went back to the Doctor and he said it seems like everything is fine. We are very greatful that she is okay and the baby is okay and the other driver is okay.

One of the joys of living in a small community, is the fact that the people on scene soon after were all people we know from church or from the area and they all stopped to help out. By the time I got there, there were like 4-5 people from church and area helping her out. We were really greatful for this as well. Except the other side, everyone knows! So, I am thinking of putting an announcement in the bulletin to let everyone know she is okay since we dont have to be in our church this Sunday. Anyway, she is good, tired and sore, but good for the most part. We praise God that he was watching over her.

P.S - The car on the other hand, we are waiting to hear from insurance, but I have a feeling it will be totaled. We shall see. But these things are very minor considering she is okay!

Lost in Thought

2009-08-13T10:24:00.002-06:00

Every day I take my dog out for a walk. Generally it is a mile. A half mile to the neighbors, and then back. (For my Canadian friends, I talk miles b/c in the country that is how the roads and markings are laid out. Ha ha) A lot of times I find that I while I am on the walk it is just nice to be outside and looking around at the scenery. Other times I use this time to think more about the sermon I am working on.

Yesterday I was out with the dog and we were getting close to home. I was at a point in the day where I was about to sit down and write my sermon. Now some people do this differently. Some people write a little each day and then pull it together on one day. I have found that for myself, It takes me some time to get to the point of writing the sermon, but when I finally get to that point, it doesn't take me that long to actually type it up on my computer. Anyway, yesterday I was close to writing it when I took the dog out. See, she will sleep after our walk, so I could get some good work in. As we were getting close to home I was in a sort of daze. I was so focused on thinking about the sermon, the walking down the road was just instinct. I really don't remember certain parts of the walk. Just walking and looking at the road ahead. The only reason I came to this realization was my dog decided to bark at something. Which is unusual for her to do on our walks. When she did this, it sort of snapped me out of my daze to realize we were almost home.

I just find this interesting. I find it interesting because I never really viewed myself as a person who would get so deep in thought that you forget your surroundings. Granted it was a beautiful day so I wasn't thinking about nasty weather or anything. I love the fact that I can go on one of these walks and think about my sermon. I can get lost in thinking about God's word and how to apply it to the congregation. It was an interesting experience.

Things they didnt teach in Seminary

2009-08-11T15:51:00.003-06:00

In the past week, I have discovered that there are a couple of things that they really don't teach in Seminary. And I mean, these aren't the things that you would expect like: How do you do a wedding? How do you do a funeral? Things like that. Those are the obvious ones. Not to mention some other difficult ones that arise in different situations.

I have had two very interesting things happen in the last week that I never thought I would have been doing. The first one occurred last week. It was a wet week as it was raining a bit here. My dog needed to be let out, so I took her up the stairs to where we normally let her out. As I get to the kitchen I look out the sliding door and I see a cow in the backyard. They never told me in Seminary that if you are a pastor of a country church, you might need to know how to get cows out of your yard!

The second thing just happened last night. At about 10 PM the phone rang. When the phone rings late at night, or early in the morning my first thought is, what happened? As my wife picked up the phone I heard someone who was rather frantic on the other end of the line. But, my wife's reaction wasn't that excited so, I figured it couldn't be that bad. Basically, someone had a bat in their house and needed my help to catch it and throw it out of the house. Again, another thing they did not teach me in Seminary.

I have learned a lot of things since moving to the country. Growing up in the suburbs of Los Angeles you think you see a lot. But man, my upbringing did not prepare me for some of these things!

Frustration

2009-08-10T10:56:00.002-06:00

For those who read my blog, (I dont know how many actually do, but I know there are some faithful ones) you would know that I try not to complain on here much. I have learned from other peoples mistakes in this area. I learned that some people think that this is a forum just to complain about anything and everything, and think there will be no repercussions from it. This is not a private thing, but a very public forum. So as much as sometimes I want to complain, or whine about something, I feel this is not the correct avenue to do so.

With that being said, I don't want this to sound like a complaining session, but a some things frustrations I have felt and I want to try to learn from them. The only reason I am writing about this is because someone was very public in their complaints last night in our evening service.

I don't know if I have mentioned it before or not, but our evening service attendance is not the greatest on good weeks. I try to keep a very positive attitude about this even when others are negative about this. I try to remind myself of what an elder has said, "Those who are there want to be there. You aren't preaching for those who aren't there. You are preaching to those who want to be there." I try to keep this positive mindset as I prepare each week.

The last two weeks have been especially bad for attendance as far as numbers go. At least in my opinion. The reason I talk about it now, is because of what someone said very publicly last night. As I usually do, I was taking prayer requests and someone said, "What do we do to get more people to night church?" in a very stern tone of voice. First of all, how do I respond to this? ha ha ha. Secondly, this is a good question.

At what point should we evaluate/re-evaluate the second service? There are times, and last week I felt was one of them, where I feel really guilty about not making visits, but I needed to get my two sermons done for the week. There are other times, when it comes really easy and I get more visits in. I am saying this, and I feel I am in a great church that really is not a high demanding church on its minister.

I guess what I really am interested in is knowing why people don't come to the second service. Even when I did things differently and lead a bible study/discussion rather than a sermon, it really didnt impact numbers much at all. I am curious to know why people dont come. Is it because we are too busy? If that is the case, what are we too busy with? What causes us to be too busy? Is it the time of the service? Talking with an elder once before he said we have tried all of that before and nothing has ever changed. A question I have in my mind is, how does this affect us spiritually? Are people coming to the second service out of a sense of "I have to be there" because this is what we have always done? Or is it they want to be there to hear God's word again?

Is there a way to really get at the heart of some of these questions? Is there a way that we can find out what is keeping people away? Or is it something that people just dont want to talk about. Do people not want to say why they dont come to church because they feel guilty for not going? If we changed the service to gear it towards their "desires" will that really get them to come regularly?

As I said, I dont like complaining, and I hope this doesnt sound too much like complaining. It was just made more fresh since last night, and these are things that I wonder about. If anyone has any thoughts on this issue, I would love to hear them. Thanks

August Long Weekend

2009-08-06T10:34:00.002-06:00

This past weekend was the Civic Holiday in Canada. Basically an excuse to have a day off of work, as far as I can understand it! We were invited by some people from church to join them in camping in Kananaskis Provincial Park. I had been through Kananaskis a few weeks before on our way home from Banff, as well as in 1996 with the Cadets camping there. It is truly a beautiful place to be!

On Saturday a group of us went on a long hike. It was 4.5 km's long, which, doesnt sound that bad. Until most of it is up the mountain. As I have been thinking about the hike it made me think of a saying we had to say during basketball in High School. It is a saying I guess made famous by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Coach John Wooden probably made use of it as well. But our coach made us say it time and time again: "Life is a journey, not a destination." On our hike, we had a destination in mind. We wanted to get to the lakes. But we first had to climb this mountain and go over the peak to get to the lakes. Along the way it was a challenge. One of the guys along the way was a great encourager. Affectionately known as T-Roy he encouraged us along the way. (He is by the way an amazing speed walker! Cant wait for the video to hit facebook...)

Thinking about encouragement along the way, it made me think of our life's journey. Often times along the way we need people to encourage us in our walk. In my own life there have been a lot of people that I can think of that have encouraged me. I think we dont realize how important it is to encourage one another, especially if you are going through a challenging time. Think about this and try to encourage each other on our journey of life together.

Reflecting on Another First

2009-07-27T11:15:00.002-06:00

Last week I thought I was going to have an "easy" week generally speaking. Sunday would only consist of preaching once due to the interdenominational service at the Gospel Jamboree in the morning. I figured I would have an easier week and get some visits that needed to be done. Plus we were having some friends come Friday night, so I thought I could get some things done on time.

Things were going well, and I had the sermon done by Wednesday evening. I was golfing Thursday with someone from church, so things were going well. I got home Thursday from golfing and there was a message on my phone from someone looking for some help. Her brother was 27 years old and had died from an accident he was in earlier in July. She said they could not find anyone to help them out with the funeral. They were really running stuck.

So, obviously they did not really have a church connection to speak of since they did not have anyone to do the service. I thought, since I have extra time I could help them out. The sister had called me back saying her mom had found someone else, which was fine, but then called back again a few minutes later asking if I could still do it. She really wanted a Christian minister to do the funeral. Even though there was no direct connection to a church, there was a sense of needing a Christian minister to do the funeral.

This whole situation was a little more frustrating then I thought it would be. I met with the mother on Friday and went over the order of the service. She told me her daughter would get back to me on a couple of different scripture readings. I started to put some things together for the message. But I was waiting for the sister to get back to me. She never did. I got up Saturday morning at 6:30 to put the message together.

Saturday the funeral was going to be at 11:00 at at a hall on the Reservation. I didnt know how to get there, so I asked the funeral home. They gave me some bad directions. I went passed a certain town for a while, then turned around and went back to ask for directions. They did give me good directions, but I didnt realize how far out the hall would be on gravel roads. It made for a stressful drive, but I got there 25 minutes early. But the whole family didnt really show up until 11:25 or so.

We got the service going and I was informed of some changes and as we went through, some werent there who were supposed to be. The graveside service was really interesting. They wanted to watch the casket lowered all the way as well as the lid being put on the grave. They then threw luggage into the grave packed with his clothing I assume. Then people threw dirt on the grave as well. It was sure different then what I was used to.

Looking back on the whole service and graveside it was interesting to be a part of. The question I ask myself, Would I do it again? At this point I dont know. I am glad I was able to help a family out in their time of grieving. It is a privilege to be with a family through this time, yet there wasnt a personal connection with the family as I would with a family in the church. Where is the family at in their faith life? Could I be one step in a line of steps to get this family to believe? I dont know. Did they hear the message of the gospel, how does it affect them? Ultimately it is up to God to work in their lives. I guess that is what it means to be an instrument of God. All I can do is bring the message, and God can work in their lives. Overall, it was very interesting to say the least. But yet there are a lot of questions still in my mind.

Follow-up

2009-07-22T15:47:00.002-06:00

I am happy to report that the article concerning the upcoming Jamboree was done in an overall positive tone. I am glad to see that. Sure the Bishop of Calgary is pretty outspoken and "Controversial" but he is still a man of God and can bring God's message. I hope that our unity can show the world Christ's Love.

Still puzzled

2009-07-21T09:33:00.002-06:00

I am still puzzled by a phone call I received last week. It was from a writer at one of the local towns' paper. This coming weekend in Granum here, there is a Gospel Jamboree. This is the 12th annual Jamboree. It brings in over 1000 people to our small town of Granum. There are different groups that perform Friday night, All day Saturday and then on Sunday we have an interdenominational service. Generally speaking this is well received for the most part.

The thing that I am puzzled about is the questions the writer was asking me. He began by asking me some general information about participation and how our church was helping out. (We offer a free pancake breakfast on the Sunday morning.) At first I thought he was just looking for some information, but then he started to ask some questions about the speaker for the Sunday morning service.

The speaker this year is Bishop Fred Henry from the Catholic Church. Bishop Henry is a pretty outspoken man when it comes to certain issues. If you know anything about the background of which I come from, of course we come out of the Reformation separating from the Catholic Church.

The writer knows a bit of this history and started to ask me some questions about this. Asking whether or not it was acceptable from our point of view to have him lead the worship service. He was asking questions about whether or not we are like "arch-enemies."

When I hung up the phone, I was almost angry. Angry at the fact that this writer seemed to be trying to get me to say something that would be controversial, I am still waiting to see what he has to say. I mean, obviously our traditions dont agree with each other. There are some things that we just cant agree on. But the purpose of this Jamboree is to praise God. It is not a denominational service. It is to help spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. In this service once a year, the local churches can show our unity in Christ. One of the reasons I think I was a bit angry is because this is coming from a town where there is really, in my opinion, no unity between the churches. In another small town I am a part of a ministerial where the local churches get together and plan events together. It helps to show the community that we are not out to get one another, but we can work together for the broader good. It bothers me that this man would want to, at least seemingly, to stir the pot and try to show that we are not unified. The world is already antagonistic towards the Christian Church in general, in an event like this, it is an opportunity to show that even though we disagree, we are still unified in our Faith in Christ.

Rest and Relaxation?

2009-07-14T08:40:00.002-06:00

The weeks leading up to my parents coming here for vacation were really busy. I was really looking forward to having time off to go camping with my parents. My parents arrived on Saturday and I had a wedding to do yet that day. On Sunday we had our normal service in the morning, followed by our church picnic and then an outdoor service. When that was done, it felt good to be able to relax. The problem I had though, was the fact that my parents have never been to Alberta for an extended period of time, so we wanted to show them everything.

On Monday, my dad and I got up and went and golfed. He beat me by one stroke. We got home and we hooked everything up and were ready for the road. On the way to Banff, we got hit by some heavy rain at times. My new bike rack worked really well, I just needed to make sure the straps stayed tied down. We got to Banff and set up camp. We had dinner and went to check out the town of Banff and the water fall near the hotel. We decided to take a cruise through the golf course, where we saw a heard of elk right on the course, it was pretty awesome.

Tuesday we went to Lake Louise. We walked a bit around the lake and took some awesome pictures. We then went to Moraine Lake which was absolutely amazing. From there we grabbed some lunch. During this time it started to rain a bit. On the way back we went to Johnston Canyon. We hiked here to the lower falls, and then my mom, Brenda and myself continued to the upper falls. On our hike to the upper falls, we got rained on a bit, but when we returned, dad had gotten hit a lot harder by the rain, he was soaked.

On Wednesday we decided to sleep in a bit, then we headed into Calgary to go to the Stampede. Of course that had to be the day that it decided to rain a lot. We managed to miss most of it, but we did get wet. The Chuck wagon races were fun because it was completely muddy. The evening program was good, but we didnt get to see everything due to the rain. But it was still a good show.

Thursday, my dad and I drove to Kananaskis to an old Ranch turned into a golf course. This course had amazing scenery. We were at the base of the rocky mountains. THis time, I was able to beat him by three strokes, since we didnt golf again the rest of the week, I beat him by a total of 2 strokes if you count total strokes. He will tell you were were tied, one to one. That afternoon we stayed around the trailer mostly.

Friday we packed up and headed home. We took the scenic drive home through Kananaskis Country. It was absolutely beautiful to drive through here. That along with the fact it wasnt that much longer to drive made it definitely worth while.

Saturday we headed to Waterton National Park. Every time we go I am simply amazed at the beauty of God's creation. On the way home, we were able to stop at this little place that said they had mexican food. This is something that I really miss living here in Canada. Some really good Authentic Mexican food. This place was awesome. My parents even raved about it saying it compared to places down in California. This will definitely be a stopping point every time we go to Waterton!

Sunday we went to Church and relaxed at home more. It was a busy week, but we wanted to see everything. There were other things that I would have loved to shown my parents, but we just didnt have enough time. It was really good to have them see where we live and what we can enjoy here. I was really glad that even though we had rain almost every day, it didnt stop us from doing what we wanted to do. Now the hard part, getting back into the swing of things. I always find it challenging to get back into the mindset of work after taking a week off. But, I am glad I was able to do it, and am a bit re-energized to get back to it.

Vacation

2009-07-03T15:25:00.002-06:00

The last couple of weeks have been really busy. I had a funeral last week and a wedding tomorrow. I am really looking forward to my vacation in a couple of days. Tomorrow my parents should arrive maybe late morning, or early afternoon. On Monday we are heading up to Banff National Park. This will be my first time in Banff in the Summer since 1996. My parents have never been, so it should be pretty good. On Wednesday we are heading into Calgary to go to the Stampede. Friday we head home, but on Saturday we will head to Waterton National Park and check out some of the sights there.

I know my parents are really looking forward to this, It has almost been a year since we last saw them, which is the longest time I have gone without seeing them. They left California at 3:30 am on Thursday, and left again from Utah at 5:30 this morning. I think they really want to get here! Anyway, I hope the weather holds up and I am sure we will have a good time no matter what.

Two places at once

2009-06-26T10:18:00.003-06:00

One of the difficulties of being a pastor is when things happen and you want to/need to/should be at two places at the exact same time. I wish there was a way in which I was able to do this. Tonight, I had planned on going to an Ordination service of a colleague in the United Reformed Church. Now, there have been tensions in the past between our denominations. Most of my colleagues in the CRC in Southern Alberta feel this is an important step in helping to build bridges with them again. I think it is a nice gesture to welcome him into the ministry and into the ministry in our area.

The other thing is there is a funeral in our church tomorrow. Now, in Ontario, and California, and almost everywhere I have lived it is the tradition to have family visiting the night before the funeral. This happens so people can come and visit with the family and offer condolences and such. Coming to Alberta I have found that this is not practiced as much, which I have found awfully strange. When these visitations happen, I generally like to go and open with devotions with the immediate family and offer a word of prayer. In Ontario, often times an elder would then come at the end of the evening and close in prayer.

The thing I have found here, however, is the fact that since family visitation is not practiced all that much, it is not in their DNA to have such a practice. So tonight I have the dilemma of being in two places at the EXACT same time. It would be okay if they were both in the same town. But the fact that they are about 45 minutes to an Hour apart, it makes it impossible.

What I have decided to do was then to have an elder go and lead devotions with the family at the visitation and I would go to the Ordination service representing our church. Is this the right decision? Should I have sent an elder to the church instead, and myself go to the visitation, since it affects a large number of people in our church? This is the struggle that I face, I hope I have made the right decision. Let me know what you think.

Collegiality

2009-06-23T09:22:00.002-06:00

The church that I serve is in a rural area. When I say rural, I mean RURAL! We live 5 miles from the closest "town" which mainly consists of a post office, a bar, and a gas station. Which, if you have ever seen the Canadian comedy show "Corner Gas" it really reminds me of that! Anyway, it seems as if our church is in the middle of nowhere sometimes.

With that being said, I am really blessed to live in a part of the country that has a number of churches within our denomination close by, relatively speaking of course. I am blessed by this in a number of ways. First of all, having colleagues close by to bounce ideas off of is helpful. To have people close by to help out when I get busy is also a major plus.

The one thing that I appreciate the most, especially as a young minister, is the fact that we get together once a month with the other pastors and their wives if they are able to join us. It is a great time of refreshment for myself. It is a time to sit and get to know my colleagues, but also to share struggles and joys with each other. We get together and we share with each other and we pray for each other. Yesterday we were able to get together for a BBQ to end our year as we will take a few months off. Even though the weather wasn't conducive for a BBQ, we still had a great time. We had time to laugh, but we also had time to challenge each other. One of the things I appreciate the most is the collegiality that is in the group.

I am richly blessed to be in a place that has such a group. I am thankful to God that he has placed me in an area where this is possible.

Running for the Kingdom

2009-06-18T10:05:00.002-06:00

I have always struggled with finding the motivation to go running. There is always some excuse. Oh, we live in the country, there is nothing to see. Oh, it is too early. Oh, it is not that fun by yourself. There are a lot of reasons as to why I choose to be lazy and not run. Lately I have been proud of the fact that I at least would walk at least a mile a day with the dog. I have tried to play basketball once a week, but only for 3 weeks at a time due to a meeting. I wish I could play basketball more, but I need to find something to keep me in shape.

This past Sunday I met a man who was incredible. His testimony was amazing. His name is Tim Borland, you can check out his website: www.timborland.com. What was so amazing about this guy is not just the fact that he is a runner. In 2007 he ran 63 marathons in 63 days! To most people, running 1 marathon in their lifetime is a major achievement. He ran to raise awareness for A-T which is an incurable disease that affects motor skills and mobility in kids and it is a fatal disease. They did a documentary on this and they hope to get it to mass release, it is called "Feat." Not only did Tim run 63 marathons in 63 days, he met someone at the last one in New York that invited him to run "Ultra-Marathons" in Canada for a different cause. So in 2008, he ran 50 miles a day in all the Canadian provinces and territories in as many days. That is 50 miles a day, plus traveling in 13 provinces and territories in 13 days. Next year he hopes to run 143 marathons to raise awareness for the 143 million orphans in the world.

In talking to him, I asked him how he got connected with A-T. He shared a story with me about wanting to use the gift God had given him to further the kingdom. He shared with me how he came to meet a pastor whose daughter had A-T and that is how he got started with A-T. He has a powerful testimony.

It was amazing to see how he wanted to be led by God to run for something to make a difference. He recognized his gift and wanted to use it. This is something I would like to see more of. It was a great encouragement to hear his story. It has motivated me to do some running on my own. I dont think I will ever do 1 marathon, much less 63. I think it is great to be reminded to use the gifts God has given us to further his kingdom in anyway possible. If that means running 63 marathons, do it. If it means playing basketball with people you dont know, but come to build a relationship with, do it. If it means, hanging out with High School kids and showing interest, do it. If it means golfing with your work buddies and being able to connect with them, do it. If it means going out for coffee with someone who just needs to talk, do it. There are many different ways that God can use you. Be open to the possibilities.

Almost Canadian

2009-06-11T14:10:00.002-06:00

I had some exciting mail today when I went to the post office. I received a letter from Canada immigration saying that they have reviewed my application for permanent residency and an exemption to the immigration act had been granted. But a final interview will need to be had on June 30th. This is exciting news, as we applied for this back in December. The problem is it said I had received earlier notification about this decision, but I never remember receiving anything, oh well.

So now, on June 30th, I have to have an interview, luckily it is right here in Lethbridge. Brenda has to join me as she is my "sponsor." I pray that all may go well with that interview.

Truth vs. Grace

2009-06-02T14:18:00.002-06:00

You might think this is an interesting title. Truth vs. Grace, shouldn't the two be together? What do I mean by this title? There is something that I have been struggling with for a while. The thing that I am struggling with is how the church, should address certain issues with members within a given church.

The problem is, that in this day and age, "Church discipline" is not something that is really practiced very much. Many people are not comfortable with confronting people. We don't want to stir the pot, we want to let everything be as it is. The church tends to lean towards a "hands off" approach. We don't want to upset people.

The thing that bothers me about this way of doing things is that we seem to be afraid to stand on the truth. We are afraid of upsetting people to the point that we would rather not say or do anything. Even if it is complete and outright sinful, we would rather not say or do anything. Even if is directly contrary to what the Word of God has to say, we still don't want to get involved.

When I write, "Truth vs. Grace" I mean that many people would rather see grace then stand for the truth. Even when people are living lives in a sinful way. How should the church respond in these times? Should we continue with a "hands-off" approach, or should we take a stand for what is right and true?

As I am writing this, I am thinking about some of the reasons why we are afraid to stand for the truth. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think maybe one reason might be we are afraid of people calling us "hypocrites." Are we afraid that people will say that we are too "judgmental." I don't really know, just some of my thoughts. What do you think??

Be Still

2009-05-29T09:33:00.002-06:00

Every few months I have the opportunity as part of a local ministerial (a gathering of local ministers) to write an article for the "Local Press." I never know what to write for these things. But here is my latest effort anyway. If you have any suggestions for me for future articles I would really appreciate them! Thanks.

Message

Be Still and Know

Now that the weather is finally warming up, and it seems to be staying, we all begin to think about the coming summer. We think, finally, we will be able to slow down and relax. We will finally be able to enjoy time with our families. During the school year things are just so busy. I mean we have to take Johnny to hockey practice and games how many times a week. After dropping Johnny off, we have to take Susie to dance practice or skating lessons. Not to mention making sure they get all their school work done.

Even though I am not a parent yet, I know what this is like. I was one of the causes of my parents running all over town to make sure I made it to sports practice of some kind. Parents get excited at the end of hockey season because finally, we can maybe slow down…but then soccer starts up, then baseball…you name it there always seems to be something.

We live in a culture of busyness. We are busy people. We don’t really have time for “extra” things. We don’t have time to slow down and to look at the things around us. We don’t have time to “stop and smell the roses.” Often times in this busyness, we get caught up, we lose focus of something that is important: we lose focus of God.

Some people think, when summer hits then I will be less busy, then I can spend more time with God. Summer is supposed to be a time of relaxation, and rest. But in this part of the world, it seems to be the opposite, it seems to be when people are the busiest. God calls us even in the midst of all this busyness to focus on him. He says in Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

This is difficult for most of us. We just don’t have the time to “Be still.” One of the things that I have come to love about where we live is the opportunity to get out and to see all that God has made. We live not too far from a couple of National Parks. We live close to the mountains. We can see amazing things at different provincial parks. It is amazing to take the time to “be still” and see what God has done. This summer, I hope that everyone is able to take some time to get out and see all God has made. To take time to “Be still and know that [he is] God.” It isn’t always easy to take the time. But when you do, you will be refreshed and renewed in knowing that the one who created all things, that he is God.

Highlights

2009-05-07T08:45:00.002-06:00

There are some things in ministry that I see as being highlights. Being able to baptize a child I find as one of them. Another is when someone accepts the promises of God in baptism and they make profession of faith.

Last night as a council we were able to experience the highlight of having a couple of young people come to make profession of faith. It is exciting for me to see. We spent the last few weeks discussing what it means to be a Reformed Christian as well as what the Bible is about. It is great to have them come and tell us why they are at a point they want to make a public profession of faith. It was really moving for me. Praise God!

Sermon or Discussion for Evening Service???

2009-05-05T09:17:00.002-06:00

For anyone who might read this, I would like to have your feedback with what you think I should do. Since I have been at this church, I have been going through the Heidelberg Catechism in our evening service. I wanted to do this as it is something that has been neglected I think over the last number of years. But also, it helps my preaching schedule. I have been here a year and a few months, and we are getting to the end.

For the last number of weeks instead of having an actual "sermon" I have been leading a discussion based on the specific Lord's Day. I did this because we were dealing with the Ten Commandments and I felt it served as a good discussion starter. The discussions were based on Ethics class from Seminary as well as my Catechism class I taught in Ontario. Some discussions went better than others. A lot of good and challenging questions came out of our discussions.

Of course with doing something different there is different feedback. Is it good or not? Well, I have of course heard the "negative" side of the feedback from a few of the loyal second service attenders. But to my delight there are a number of people who really enjoyed these discussions.

Now the things that I am faced with, we are finished with the Ten Commandments. Now do I go back to preaching a sermon, or do I continue to lead discussions. The last section deals with Prayer, and the Lord's Prayer, specifically. Some might lend to good discussion.

Now some of the reasons why I did the discussion on the Ten Commandments. 1. They bring up things that we deal with all the time, and it can open our eyes to the wider meaning of the command. 2. I had the discussions pretty much made up from catechism a year ago, and it made it less work. 3. Smaller crowd makes a discussion easier to do.

I have found that after the discussions, often times the discussion continues in the foyer. Rather than the first thing out of people's mouths "well, have you started seeding yet?" "Is the weather going to hold this week to allow us in the fields?" I hear more people continuing the discussion, even if it is joking around, they are discussing it and it seems to be applied more. I don't know.

The thing I struggle with is whether or not to lead discussion. Was it done in an attempt to get more people to come to the evening service? Possibly. Did it work? Not necessarily. I must say that lately we have had a good turnout, 20-30 people. The numbers thing really doesn't bother me too much, I have come to accept that fact that people just don't come. Why that is, is probably another blog post!

Anyway, I guess what I am looking for is what people think. There are positives and negatives. I am just interested in what other people think about this topic.

Camping Season

2009-05-01T10:38:00.002-06:00

It has been a long winter. Or so it seems. It seems as if it will never stop snowing. In fact this past week we have had more snow, and as I type there is still some on the ground outside. Should be gone today...But just a bit south of us, only like 30-40 minutes south of us, they got about 5 feet of snow, unbelievable. But, there is hope! The forecast seems nice for the next few days.

I am looking forward to taking our tent trailer out a few times this year. Last year we never really got to use it except on our way back up from California. In a few weeks is May long weekend, (the week before Memorial Day in the States.) I just made reservations to camp there for the weekend as I have the Sunday off.

This morning, I spent over an hour trying to make these reservations. It is only two weeks away, and I tried to reserve the other day, but they said they didnt start until May 1. It didnt make much sense to me, as many people want to go camping on this particular weekend. I tried calling, and the recording said to try the website. So I did. But that was too busy. So I tried calling again, busy signal. I did this over and over again, until finally, an hour later, I got through on the website. I find it a bit ridiculous that they tell you on the phone they are too busy, try the website, but then the website is too busy. Wow, I guess everyone wants to go camping that weekend! Anyway, I am really looking forward to this. It should be a good time!

Oh yeah, we are camping at Writing on Stone provincial park. Just for those who are interested, it is only a few miles from the Montana border I guess...Looks like a neat place.

Lost in the Busyness

2009-04-15T09:16:00.002-06:00

Last week was a busy week. Not only did we have Good Friday and Easter, I had a funeral to do on Thursday. The thing that I found out was that it was really busy. But I tried to make sure that I didnt get lost in the busyness of the week. It would have been very easy to get lost in making all those sermons and planning the worship services.

I am extremely thankful for people who are willing and able to help during a busy week. There is one person who really helped me with the planning of the Good Friday service as well as Easter. It was a relief to be able to sit with her and plan the service. It took a major weight off my shoulders. As a result I was able to enjoy the worship services on Good Friday and Easter and not be too stressed out about them. These are highlights of the Church year and to get lost in the busyness of it all would be a shame. It was great to hear the story of how Christ was crucified for our sins and then on the Third day he rose from the grave! A story that we hear each year, but yet never gets old!

I was thinking that I am probably not the only person who felt overwhelmed with how much was going on. A lot of people have big Easter celebrations. Many people get stressed out over these things. I am sure they too could have felt lost in the busyness. I hope that they too were able enjoy the special day and that they were able to remember why we celebrate this each year.

Exciting News

2009-04-05T14:22:00.001-06:00

For those who read this, (I dont know who reads this generally), but you notice I dont post on Sunday's because generally I am too busy, tired, etc. But, my wife and I wanted to be able to share our exciting news with everyone. So, I thought it would be good to write this today.

My wife and I are expecting our first baby in October 2009. We are really excited about this, but also nervous as it is a major adjustment. That along with the fact we dont have our families near us. That is one of the hardest things about this, but know that our church supports us in all things. Anyway, that is our exciting news, I would love to hear any comments you migt have. Thanks

Work or Play?

2009-03-27T09:17:00.002-06:00

One of the interesting things about ministry is that sometimes the line between work and play can become very fuzzy, if there is a line at all I wonder sometimes. For example, each week we play volleyball at the local school. Generally it is all people from church who play. Now the question I ask is: "Is this work, or is this play?" One that I have no real answer for.

Another example in ministry is our monthly gatherings of local pastors and spouses, (if they can make it, since a lot have other jobs.) We meet once a month on a Monday at someone's house, and then go for lunch. Usually it is a nice time of talking and also a time of prayer with each other. So, is this work or is this play? Monday's are usually my day off, so should I attend this on my day off, or is this outside of work?

Another little example is going to the Christian school spring program. Is that work or play? The reason I ask that is, would I go if I wasnt the pastor and there are 8-10 kids from church in it?

Another example is playing basketball on Wednesday nights. I go and play pick up ball with a bunch of random people, generally the same crowd. For the most part they dont know what I do. There is another pastor who organizes it each week. It is great to get to know these guys and talk with them about what is going on in their lives, but they dont go to our church, is it work or play? But if I take members from church, or meet people there from church, is it work or play?

And then another example from yesterday. I was supposed to go skiing with my wife and someone from church, but then I hurt my ankle and cant ski. So, I was going to get some more work done. My wife was going to play cards with somoene, and her husband asked what I was going to do. He called and asked if I wanted to go and shoot some gophers as he had to go to see his bees. We spent quite a bit of time shooting gophers in the field. Then went to his bees and we had to dig out some pallets of bees. There was a lot of snow around them and so we had to get at some of the pallets. I could only do a little since my ankle is hurt. I helped him with treating the bees and then we went back to shooting gophers on the way home. Is this work or play? Especially since we could talk all the way too and from the bees.

In general, I guess almost anything I do, could be considered work. The way I look at it, we are all called to be Christians at all times. Sure my job is a pastor, so then I should be who I am at all times. But those who call themselves Christians should also be who they are at all times. They should also represent Christ. For many people it is easy to distinguish between work and play. My job makes it a bit harder.

Psalms for Lent

2009-03-25T08:59:00.002-06:00

This year for Lent I decided to use Psalms for a Lenten journey from the Calvin Institute for Christian Worship (www.calvin.edu/worship). The psalms that we have looked at so far are: Psalm 1, 34, 32, 91. This week we will look at Psalm 73.

It is amazing to me to read through these psalms. I love the psalms and love to preach the psalms. Last week I was able to read a sermon on Psalm 91 by Cornelius Plantinga Jr, which was simply amazing. It made it that much more difficult to write my own, because his was so good.

As I have been preparing these sermons, I am realizing how much I love the psalms. The biggest theme that we covered last week was that the Lord is in fact our Refuge. This phrase is a phrase that is often times over used in our world. It has become a quainte cliche that people use. But really, if we think of the image Psalm 91 gives us, it talks about complete coverage. It does seem to paint a pretty optimistic picture, some would question if it is reality or not. But the main point is that God is able to completely cover us.

As we celebrate lent we prepare ourselves to remember what Christ did for us on the cross. He is able to completely cover us and protect us because he spread his arms out for us. He took the pain so we dont have to. As long as we acknowledge him and fear him, he will protect us. What an amazing promise. It has just been a good reminder for me this year during lent.

Still learning

2009-03-24T12:06:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I was able to go and enjoy the outdoors again. There had been some real warm weather recently, but also some new snow on Sunday, so I thought it would be great to go skiing again. I drove up to the mountain with some snow in the morning. I got to the ski hill and no one was there. It was awesome. Skiing on Mondays are perfect, no one is there.

As I am still learning, I decided to take another lesson. This time I had the director of the snow school. He had seen me each time sign up, so he took me himself, and he asked how far I have come. He then told me, we are getting you to ski parallel today. We are getting rid of the snow plow. Well, It took some work, and I finally feel like I am starting to get the hang of it. It was such a nice day. He made me go faster than I had gone before, he wanted me to feel the speed to get used to it. It really seemed to help.

I hope to go again next week, and maybe take one more lesson for the year. Hopefully there will still be some good snow. It was really great to be in the Mountains again, it is so awesome there. Anyway, it is coming along. Still no expert though.

More thoughts on the trip

2009-03-10T09:37:00.002-06:00

This past Sunday our group from the Dominican trip was able to give a presentation in church. We had a brief slideshow followed by members of the group talking about their experience. I thought it was really great to hear what people had to say. Each person learned something different. We all experienced the same thing, but we all experienced it differently. It was really fun going through the pictures and remembering all that we had done. Hearing people describe it too, brought back good memories.

I was really pleased to talk to a couple different people who told me how the trip impacted them. It is amazing how 10 days on a trip like this can really have an impact. I think it is a great experience for people to have, but especially people who have never left home, or far from it anyway.

Like I said before, it was a great experience, it challenged me more than I realize sometimes. It really causes one to think about all the blessings that we have and how often times we take everything for granted. I would encourage anyone to go on a trip like this if they are able to.

Trip - Day 10, Feb 20

2009-03-04T08:28:00.002-07:00

Short night with not that great of sleep. 6:00 am the alarm goes off, a.k.k Jerry knocking on our door. Pack up and head to the airport. Mano drove us in his van, whoa what an experience. Our first flight left at 10:00 to San Juan. So we had breakfast, with Duane helping everyone order one last time. We said goodbye and off we went. Everything went fine on that flight. We cleared customs in Puerto Rico, we quickly grabbed something to eat. The next flight was scheduled for 12:45 left at 1:15. No problems as we arrived in Dallas a few minutes late. After a nice meal at T.G.I. Fridays we wait again as our plane is a bit late. It will be a late night again.

As I am flying, I finished the second book of the trip and try to sleep. It just isn't working. As I sit here I begin to reflect on the trip even more. I begin to think about the questions Kyndra asked me, "So, did you enjoy it?" This will be a question I am sure I will be asked a lot. The easy answer is yes, I really enjoyed it. The hard thing to do in my mind at least, is to answer - why? What about the trip really made it enjoyable? As I think about this more, I think it really has to do with the fact I can truly see what Paul is talking about in Galatians 4:26-28, we are all "one in Christ Jesus." We spent a lot of time talking about how in our culture, money talks. When frustrations ariseon the jobsite, it is easy for us rich North Americans to want to buy our way out of those frustrations. What I mean by that is that we can buy more supplies, we can buy more equipment, etc. But is this the right thing to do is the real question.

This trip has stretched me. I feel I was blessed in my upbringing of having a lot of diversity around me in the suburbs of Los Angeles. But this trip got me out of my little bubble that I was comfortable in. This trip allowed me to see brothers and sisters in Christ in a whole new way. Often times we can become complacent, comfortable in our faith, in our way of doing things. This trip has helped me to see how passionate people are for the Lord even though it appears as if they dont have anything.

The question I posed to the group is: "What can we take home from this experience?" Does this change how we live? Or do we jump back into our materialistic mindset and culture? Or do we challenge that mindset, do we challenge our families and friends who have this mindset?

The thing I wonder about is how do we as a group, or me specifically as a pastor, challenge our church to see as a reality we are in fact one. That even though there are differences in culture, race, skin color, worship styles, etc, that we all worship the same Lord. This trip sort of reminded me that in North America we are very self-centered in everything we do. If worship doesn't meet my needs I will find a church that does. But we are putting the focus on ourselves rather than on God. At their church service, we were like honored guests. How do we treat others in our churches? We are one, but we tend to put our needs first in North America.

I definitely learned a lot on this trip. I am glad I went. I am sure I will add more thoughts in the days and weeks ahead. I hope to have the group over and talk about these things again in a few weeks.

Trip - Day 9, Feb 19

2009-03-03T08:42:00.003-07:00

*I wrote two entries today since I was gone yesterday.

Cathedral built in 1500's

Ryan showing us what people looked like before the firing squad

The Ministry Center in Santo Domingo

This morning we went to visit some interesting places. The first place we stopped at was in San Pedro. Really cool note, real famous major league baseball players come from San Pedro. The place we stopped at was a Christian school that was built by volunteers. It is a CoCRef school (Collegio Christiana Reformada). It was really cool to see all the kids playing. These schools give kids an opportunity to go to school when otherwise they might not be able to.

We then went through downtown Santo Domingo, it was interesting to see all the traffic and the fact 3 million people live there. We went to the ministry center where most of the groups stay. We met Guido and he gave us a tour. He showed us the dorms as well as the new offices that were being built for CRWRC, CoCRef and other ministries. We had lunch there and met some of the workers and some from another group.

After lunch we drove to the colonial center. We were able to see the original fort built in the 1500's as well as the Cathedral there. We then had time to check out some stores. It was really interesting to see how badly they want Americans (or Canadians in this case) in their stores. How pushy they can be even when you say no. I had one kid who tried to polish my sandals. People will do anything for a few pesos. Kids will even was your windows while waiting for the light to change. Duane wont pay them unless they ask first.

After dinner we had a good discussion about the trip and the work. It was great to hear how everyone felt about the week. AFter Duane left, Jerry asked me my thoughts. I feel this week was really good. It truly opened my eyes to a completely different culture. We all said that someone really has to experience it to fully understand what people mean when they describe it. Some have said in the past that they feel closer to God. I don't know if I can say that, but I can definitely say it really excited me to see how other Christians live. It really excited me to see how they worship. We can learn from them in some areas as well.

The thing we also talked about was how do we get more people excited about these opportunities to want to come along. I wish that there would have bee more time spent in devotions and/or prayer that might have brought the group together even more.

In general, I am very glad I went, I got to know some people even better than before. I probably will write another one after I think more on the plane. 6:00 am will come pretty early.

Trip - Day 8, Feb 18

2009-03-03T08:12:00.004-07:00

*I will post two today, since I was gone all day yesterday.*

Today we got started as usual. Everyone started by helping to take off the forms of the columns we poured yesterday. Some got started forming the last corners and some got started forming the top of the wall for the solid beam. Another group finished the last column. Before lunch we poured the two columns. After lunch there was a lot of standing around. It was really frustrating at these points, not having anything to do. Once we were able to pour the concrete beam things really moved. Then we had to pour the final column.

I got a sense that we didnt get as far as some would have wanted. We ran into problems with materials. We werent able to get as much done as we would have liked. We hope they are motivated to finish the project. Duane has told us they should have enough money to do so. All of us would love to come back and see the completed job.

Tomorrow we are heading to Santo Domingo. On the way we are going to visit a Christian school. Then we will visit the Ministry Center and a market of some sort.

Tonight was good as we had dinner then walked for ice cream again. It was an okay day, but pretty frustrating.

Trip - Day 7, Feb 17

2009-03-01T16:43:00.002-07:00

Today we kind of expected it to be a slow day. We got started as usual with breakfast. After arriving at the job site we got to work right away. We began by taking off the forms from around the windows and columns. We got started with one more door way and a corner column and a side column. When I was finished helping in the back I went to help on the side column. I was helping Jerry and others and we had some fun. They joke with me that the only took me along because of my height. I dont need scaffolding and Jerry used me as a shade tree. We were able to pour three columns before lunch. It was hilarious to see the nationals get a bucket brigade going to pour concrete for the columns. They were having such a good time, it was great to see.

After lunch we really didn't have anything to do. We organized things and that was about all we could do. Tomorrowow we could get quite a ways but it is our last day as well.

As a result we quit early and went to the beach for a few hours. It wasnt as nice as before, but the locals use it more.

After dinner we had a good discussion again on differences between cultures, and how as Christians we are to respond when confronted with different cultures. It was a great chance to discuss these things again. We then walked for ice cream. When we got back we played some cards for a while.

All in all it has been a great experience so far. I am really glad I came and hope Brenda can come on one sometime in the future.

Trip - Day 6, Feb 16

2009-02-28T09:47:00.003-07:00

This morning started off like the others, breakfast at 7:45, meet at 8:00 to go to the job site. Before we left Duane mentioned that we might start running out of work soon. We got to the job site and started working as soon as possible. We took off forms from the windows and the two columns we poured Saturday. Today we poured the beams over the door as well as six other windows. After lunch we were able to get blocks on four of the windows and we finished by pouring the corner column. Today was the hottest day so far. There was no breeze and the sun was just hot. Today for lunch we had food prepared for us by the ladies of the church. Rice, beans, chicken and some other stuff that was pretty good. We took an extended lunch break because it was so hot. Kevin had a guitar from someone in the church and he serenaded us with some different songs, it was quite fun.

Duane was really surprised with how much we accomplished today. I can see that tomorrow and Wednesday we will be running out of work.

All in all, I am really happy with what we have done. I am happy about what we have seen and learned as well. It's too bad not everyone can come on these trips. I would highly recommend it to anyone in the future.

Trip - Day 5, Feb 15

2009-02-27T10:12:00.003-07:00

This morning we got to sleep in, but because of the noise I was still up at 7:30. After breakfast we met for a bit then headed off to church. We arrived there around 9:30 or a bit later. We joined them in singing. Which of course was not at all what we are used to. It was really neat to see how excited they are in their worship. Sunday mornings for them is usually the Sunday school, so we went outside and talked a bit about the passage. After 20 minutes they invited us back in. The real interesting thing to note was they wanted to make sure we were comfortable. They brought us chairs and even a bench to sit on. When inside they invited a few of us to sit up front as guests. Throughout the whole service they talked a lot about us and how grateful they were to have us come. They said they have prayed for 6 years for this to happen. I was able to preach a bit on Galatians 6:26-28, about being one in Christ. It was unique using an interpreter. But the people were really receptive to this. The pastor spoke on 1 Corinthians 13 and love with actions. How we are showing love by doing this project.

After church we had lunch. Then we went to these caves a few miles away. It was really cool to see them but we werent allowed to take any pictures. After this we went back to the hotel to change.

After we changed, we went for a tour to see the sugar cane fields. The countryside here is absolutely beautiful. There are a lot of sugar cane fields. We saw how they unload onto a train. They have carts with oxen that bring the cane to the trains. It was really cool to see the fields. We went to Santa Rita to see a church that was built with left over funds. We met the pastor there as well. The church had to use tin that was used, so it has holes in its roof. But they are so thankful for what they have. We also saw in Mano's village a pastor's house they had built.

When we got back we had dinner and then met to discuss the day. We had some good but interesting discussions on the differences and whether or not it means good or bad. The discussion was really neat to see how it challenged people in different ways, and how it stretched others. It was a tiring day, but very educational. It is hard to believe we only have three working days left.

Trip - Day 4, Feb 14

2009-02-26T08:25:00.003-07:00

This morning ws the same routine as the past. We were planning on working only half a day today. It is really amazing how fast it goes when working only half a day. We had some frustrating experiences today. First of all we started to pull some forms off of the windows for the top beam. It was decided to leave the bottom support until Monday. The problem however, is that they dont have enough pieces to make a third set of forms. So we had to make shift some. The other problem was building the forms for the columns. I could see the frustration building on some people. But by noon we had the third window poured and almost two full columns. THe other wall was pretty much finished as well.

There was more down time today, so it was fun to see the interaction with the little kids.

After we got back, we cleaned up and went to the beach. That was really nice. The water was so warm and really clean. There were a lot of tourists from different resorts and cruises. It is amazing to me how people and kids will come up and just ask for money. After the beach we tried to go to a place with interesting architecture, but it was closed. That was disappointing, because it was a place that Duane really recommended. Instead we went to another place to eat. Again after the meal, a kid tried to tell us he watched our van for us, trying to get money for this.

When I got back I was able to finally get a hold of Brenda. It didnt occur to her to pick up her cell phone the day before, having a different number she didnt recognize! It was really good to talk to her, and she sounded really excited to talk.

Tomorrow we will go to church where we are working. It will be a neat experience. I am going to "preach" for a few minutes. I hope it goes well.

Trip - Day 3, Feb 13

2009-02-25T08:46:00.002-07:00

(These pictures show what we finished on Day 2, Day 1 of work)

This morning we got up at 7:30 to have breakfast. Last night we crashed early, I think around 9:45. We headed off to work after 8:00 because we were waiting for Mano (he is a Dominican who let us use his van, also the project manager). It wound up that he was already at the jobsite. Once we got going things were really moving. We finished one wall with th exception of the solid beam on top. We also got quite a ways on the other wall.

It is really neat to see how everyone interacts with the kids hanging around the church. We are able to work real hard, but also able to take time to play with the kids. It is still hard not being able to converse with them.

Tonight we walked to supper. Then we gathered around to talk about our experience so far. There are some cultural differneces, but we can still get a lot done. Duane also shared with us the history of the D.R. We had a good conversations.

Duane mentioned the possibility of speaking Sunday. I have thought about it and think I will. It will be interesting to speak with a translator. Anyway, getting late, same time in the morning.

(These show what we finished on Day 3)

Trip - Day 2, Feb 12

2009-02-24T07:50:00.003-07:00

This morning started off with getting up at 7:45. Breakfast here was interesting. Two pieces of toast and some soup like thing. After breakfast we met all together to talk about what to expect. We talked about the day.

I should back up a moment...Last night our sleep was interesting. We are in a hotel on the main road. There are so many motorbikes and everyone honks, especially when running the red lights. So we woke up this morning because of the traffic noise.

We drove to the job site, it is in a really poor area. We are building a church, but they want to keep the old one up until we finish this one. There were a lot of people who pitched in to help. Mostly they go to the church. The first pictures show what we started with. We worked until almost 5:00. We got quite a bit done.

One of the most difficult parts is not being able to understand the people, especially the kids. It would be so much fun if we could understand better.

We came back, showered and then went for supper. We went to a large supermarket with a food court of sorts. It was neat to talk with a couple of the guys about the people and how they live versus how we live. All in all it was a real good first day, hopefully we can finish the church, that would be great.

Trip - Day 1, Feb. 11

2009-02-23T18:19:00.002-07:00

*As I said, most of the next entries will be what I wrote on our trip down to the Dominican Republic. We worked in a village west of La Romana. We helped to build a church there. *

Before I begin I have to start with last night. We all went to Calgary to spend the night. Brenda came in at 11:20pm, so she was a bit early. But that meant going to bed at 12:30-1:00am. At 4:00 the alarm went off. I got ready and said goodbye to he Brenda and then onto the shuttle. After finally getting our tickets and through U.S. Customs off to Dallas.

Luckily the flight wasnt full. I sat in the exit row since there were 4 empty seats. We were a little early into Dallas, so that meant I was able to quick eat at Fuddruckers, made me feel at home. Then we got on another flight for 4 1/2 hours to San Juan Puerto Rico. WE had 2 hours there then a 1 hour flight to Santo Domingo. When we go there we loaded up the bus and off to La Romana. After 1 1/2 hours we arrived at the hotel at 12:45 local time.

There are a lot of things to comment on which we arent use to. Red lights being optional. So many people on the streets, even late at night, roaming dogs, etc. I am sure I will comment on this more later. God is good, we all made it safe, but another short night as we are to be at breakfast between 7:30-8:00 tomorrow morning.

Trip to the Dominican

2009-02-10T15:33:00.002-07:00

Tomorrow morning I will be boarding a plane with 11 others and heading down to the Dominican Republic. We are going down there to help build a church in Villa Progresso, which is close to La Romana. This is going to be a new experience for me.

The thing about this trip is the fact that I have not really done anything like this before. I have gone on mission trips to places within the States, but never out of the country like this. I am really looking forward to it.

But it makes me think: What am I looking forward to? Seeing how other people live? Helping to build a church where people can hear the good news of Jesus Christ? Getting to know people from church a little better? These are some of the things I am looking forward to.

But it also makes me a bit nervous. Am I prepared enough for this? Should I have done more in planning devotions? What is going to be expected of me/us?

This trip will be a good experience. I usually dont keep a journal, but I think I will write a journal, and when I get back post them here on my blog. Anyway, I ask that you pray for our group. Pray that we have safe travels, but more importantly that God will use us while we are there, and that he may also speak to us while we are there as well. Thanks!

Great Weekend

2009-02-03T11:21:00.002-07:00

This past weekend was a really nice weekend. On Saturday my wife and I went to town and had breakfast together. Something that we hardly ever do, especially now that we live in the country. It was a real nice time together. After breakfast we went and picked up stuff for our Super Bowl party. We spent most of the day getting ready, but also had the time to take our dog to the park and go on a decently long walk with her.

On Sunday we had a nice time of worship. We had Cadet Sunday which is always fun to see the young guys in front of church, shaking hands, taking the offering, it was quite cool to see. In the afternoon service, I led it like it was a class based on the 10 Commandments. I was hoping for a better turn out, but what do you do? (An ongoing question about afternoon/evening service...I could possibly write a whole post on this topic alone.) After the service we had the Super Bowl party. It was a lot of fun. Even though 3/4 of the people dont watch football, it is an excuse to have people over and have a good time together. Thanks everyone for supporting my need to watch the Super Bowl.

Yesterday was also a good day. I have been trying to play hockey in Lethbridge on Mondays. I am a terrible hockey player, but am trying to learn. It was good because there weren't that many people there. I felt like I could stay out longer and get some more experience. The guys there are generally nice to me! I was also able to change my oil on my truck and fix my headlight and I needed a new one, so I replaced both. All in all, it was a productive weekend, but also a very enjoyable one. One where we had fun as well as getting some things accomplished.

Funny

2009-01-29T17:16:00.002-07:00

For the past couple of months I have been going to a bakery/cafe in the town close by. I usually go there in the afternoon and take books along to do some studying, or preparing. It is a nice little place that has pretty good treats and good coffee. Usually every day at 4, there is a group of guys that come in for coffee. Now, I dont usually talk with them, but one time I introduced myself to some of them at one point.

Last week, I was sitting there preparing for one of my sermons and they came in again. What was so funny was as I was sitting there you can sort of hear what they say, but its not like I am trying to listen in. But, one guy, was saying something and he used the "F" word to describe something. When he did this, I heard someone else kind of shush him. He was like what!? The guy whispered something, and I think he was informing the man that I was a pastor.

The reason I find this funny is it isn't like I am their pastor. But, the fact that they know that, they tried to quiet one guy from swearing. Anyway, I find that amusing.

One of my Prayer Warriors

2009-01-28T10:37:00.002-07:00

One of the founding members of my home church, Art DeJong Sr. passed away on Tuesday. This is significant to me because of who he was to me the last 10 years or so. I never really had much contact with him growing up. He was my friend's grandpa, and that was about as much as I knew about him. He was an elder in the church many times and I knew he would lead a lot of Adult Education classes at church. That is all I really knew about him.

Until I was thinking about going into Seminary. While I was away at College, he had talked with my dad about the possibility of me attending Seminary. When I got home, he contacted me to talk about this, because he was the Classis Treasurer and said there was some funds available to help me. So of course I was interested. In the interview with the committee he was very wise. I had not yet decided on what seminary I would attend. One of the committee members was not in favor of me going to a particular one, and he stated it. So Art asked him to share with me his reasons. It was very insightful.

Now, I dont only appreciate Art for his financial assistance. What I really appreciate about Art was the fact that he was one of my biggest supporters. When I went through a tough time personally, he encouraged me. While at seminary, I had to send my grades to him all the time. He constantly encouraged me. Often times while I was home, he would ask for prayer requests for me as I was studying for ministry. Knowing that he was so supportive and knowing that he was praying for me really meant a lot. I felt that every time I was home, I should talk with him to let him know how I was doing.

Art will be missed by many people. I know for a fact that I will miss talking to him when I go back to my home church to visit. One thing that I know for certain, the Lord has called him home, and I am confident that he has said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

God knows

2009-01-27T14:25:00.002-07:00

Last week for me was a difficult week. Personally I struggled with some things and just had a tough time. As I was preparing for Sunday, I questioned a lot of things. Yet, I still had to get ready for Sunday. As I was preparing, I also had an image from a movie stuck in my mind. So, I just had to play the clip in the sermon (What, gasp...) I didnt know how this would go over. So, I was a bit worried about it.

After the service I didnt really hear any feedback, so I figured, no news is good news. Not only that, I was really blessed during the worship service. Throughout the service I thought God was using it to speak to me. It is really neat to be able to experience this. That afternoon, I was really encouraged by a number of people about the morning service. It was something that I really needed. Many people really liked the clip even.

As I was thinking about this, I was thinking about the week leading up to Sunday. I was struggling and not sure what to even pray for. But I was reminded of Matthew 6:8 where Jesus says, "Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." This was so true. God knew what I needed on Sunday and he lifted me up. We truly serve an amazing God.

Chair Lift

2009-01-22T08:00:00.002-07:00

Due to popular demand, okay, there was only one request for me to post about the chair lift episode that I wrote about in the previous entry, but here you go.

Last week we had a great time at Fernie B.C. The thing is, I am still very much a beginner. As a result, I pretty much stayed on one lift the whole time. It is the deer lift for anyone who knows. Well, this chair comes in behind you really, really low. I mean, it is hitting me in the back of the boots it is so low.

Well, on Wednesday I went by myself most of the day so my wife could actually have some fun. I was doing pretty good, and I thought I would get one more run in before lunch. Thankfully it wasnt very busy, and I was going to sit on the chair by myself. As it came in, I got on okay, as we start to go up the hill, it kind of sways a bit. Somehow, I really dont know how it happened, as it happened so fast, my left ski tip caught the ground. Next thing I know, my ski is off, and I am not far behind it. The people running the lift, werent paying that much attention, but were able to stop the lift, and then help me get up.

When I got back in front of the chair, I said to the girl running the lift, "THAT's not embarrassing!" I told everyone at lunch. After lunch, the same girl was now at the top of the hill and she was giving me a hard time about falling off the lift. But the best part of it all, that night my wife's uncle told me he had the same thing on that lift, only he managed not to fall. His ski caught and he started to go down, but he grabbed his wife and the chair and managed to stay on. But here is an expert skier, and he almost had it happen too, so I didnt feel that bad!

Time alone with God

2009-01-21T08:52:00.002-07:00

Last week we were on vacation, or holidays as they say here in Canada. We went skiing at Fernie B.C. It was a good time. While I was there, I was able to have a lot of time alone with God. This was made possible because I am such a beginner, I didnt want to hold anyone else up, so, I was able to go by myself for most of the day Wednesday and part of Thursday. Everything went well, with the exception of falling off the lift, whole other story, you will have to ask me to share...

Anyway, while riding up the lift I found I could have some real quiet time with God. It was amazing to look at the scenery and think about his creation.

While this time was good, I found that yesterday I was able to have some real quiet time with God. There was something that was really bothering me yesterday, so I needed to get out. So, I did what I havent done in a long time, I went for a drive. I havent done this for obvious reasons. Now that gas is lower (even though oil prices drop and gas prices went up here in Alberta, I dont understand), I felt I could go for a drive. I went up into the mountains and had some real quiet time with God. I listened to one CD for a while, then I shut it off and rode in silence.

If you have never done this, I recommend it. I know for me, it allows me to think, it allows me to pray, it allows me to sit in silence. I found a restaurant and had coffee. I sat there and read and thought about a lot of things. On the way home, I again rode in silence for most of the way.

After I got home, I realized how much I needed that time. A colleague of mine shared with our local group that he has been trying to do a lot more with prayer, and meditating on God's word. I see what he was saying. It is really refreshing to spend some time alone with God. I know most of my days are alone with God, but I mean some serious time alone. No computer, no phone, nothing to distract me. I realize that I need to do something like this more often. It was really a refreshing time for me.

I encourage others to do the same. Maybe driving isnt your thing. But find something where you can spend some serious time alone with God. Time where you can listen to what he has to say to you. Time to pray and meditate on his word. Hopefully you will find it as refreshing as I did.

Christmas Celebration

2008-12-26T11:04:00.002-07:00

This was our second Christmas here in Alberta. Last year we were invited to a family's house to celebrate Christmas with them. Last year, we were by far the youngest people there. It was still a lot of fun as we were out at the ranch. This year we had a few more invitations from other people. It is always hard to say no to someone. But, we decided to go back to the ranch for Christmas.

This year however, their entire family were able to be home for Christmas. It was a really neat experience. Around Christmas time we miss our families in Ontario and in California. We would love to celebrate with them. Since that is not possible, it was really nice to feel as if we were a part of the family for Christmas.

My wife and I said we weren't going to stay too long, because we wanted to have time alone and open our gifts together. Well, we were having such a good time, our plan of not staying long didn't work. We had a really good time and we felt welcomed as if we were a part of their family. What a neat way to celebrate Christmas this year!

Christmas Program

2008-12-22T10:12:00.002-07:00

Last night we had the annual Sunday School program. It was a lot of fun to watch the little kids as they recited their lines and sang different songs. For me it is really neat to see the kids excited about being up front and singing. At what age is it no longer cool to stand up front and participate?

Anyway, my last post I said I was going to maybe push the limits a bit. Well, I think it went over pretty well. What I did was at the beginning of my meditation, I had someone call my cell phone. At first I looked out like whose phone is that? I should have let it ring longer to make people more uncomfortable as they looked for theirs, but I didnt. Anyway, I answered the phone and acted embarrassed that my phone would ring in the service. Then I reacted all excited about something happening right then and there. So, I ran out of the sanctuary. I came back in after a few minutes talking about how amazing it was to see a brand new baby.

The point I was making was how would we react to an important message like the birth of your own child. Or even more, if it was the birth of the Savior. The Shepherds left their work to go and see what the Angel had told them about. They returned glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard. The shepherds were excited about seeing the savior. I wondered then with the congregation if we too share in this excitement? Or are we too tired and worn out from all the busyness of the season? At one point when I asked if we are just too tired, one of the kids answered out loud, "YES!" It shows he was listening, and it shows how honest he was, and how we might need to be more honest with ourselves.

The story is the same story each and every year. For many people it is old and tired. But the excitement of the savior being born should never leave us. We should want to share it with everyone! God himself became flesh to dwell among us! He came to redeem his people. What could be any more exciting??

Pushing the limits??

2008-12-19T09:30:00.002-07:00

Sunday night is our annual Sunday School Christmas program. It is quite the big thing around here. Last year was one of my first services here, and I remember that church was the fullest I have ever seen it. It seems as if it is a highlight for everyone to come. Which in my opinion is great. I love the fact that people want to encourage the kids in the Sunday school and hopefully they are excited about Christmas.

During the service there is a spot that is given to me to give a meditation of sorts, not a full blown sermon, because then we would be there until 9 pm. This year as I am thinking about what I am going to do, I think I want to push the limits a bit. I want to stretch people's comfort zone. Hopefully it will be something that will make people remember and think about for a while.

For those who read this and go to our church, well, you will just have to wait and see on Sunday evening what will happen. I am looking forward to it. I hope everyone else is too!

Too busy to work

2008-12-18T09:19:00.002-07:00

As I said before this is really my first full Christmas season as a pastor of a church. It is a busy time of year. The thing that I am finding, at least in this week is that there is so much going on, it is hard to keep my mind focused. There is a lot that I need to do, but it is as if I am too busy to work. My mind is on what I need to do next, and I cant seem to focus on what I need to do now. This isnt a good thing as I need to get the sermons written, I need to get the services planned, I need to call people to line them up for readings, I need to...it seems as if it keeps going and going.

I am looking forward to Christmas, I really am. But, the time between now and then doesnt seem to be long enough! I guess that is the life of a pastor. IT is a fun time of year, I just dont want to get lost in the busyness of it all.

I might be Sick

2008-12-16T13:41:00.002-07:00

Could someone recommend a good psychologist? I think I need to be examined. I have said a couple of times today, "It is really nice outside." You might be wondering why this might mean that I am sick. Well, it is -10 C (14 F) outside. Growing up in California it rarely dropped below 10 C (50 F) during the winter, if it did, it was usually at night. Sure we would spend some time up in the mountains at the snow, but that would only be for a few days. But I cant believe I actually think that -10 is nice.

Not only that, I voluntarily went for a walk/hike over an hour on Saturday in -40, at this point, Celsius and Fahrenheit dont really matter, it is COLD!! It was a nice time actually. We walked in the river bottom and were looking for Coyotes but never saw any. We did see a herd of Mule deer, which was pretty awesome. Walking in the trees was actually nice, until we reached an opening, then it was really cold. But it was really enjoyable.

The reason -10 feels good is because after 3 days of -40 to -50 degree wind chill, it is really nice. It was great to take the dog out for a walk, she seemed to have a lot of fun, rather than the last three days of sitting and shivering the whole time. As they said last year at my ordination service, global warming hasnt really hit Alberta yet!!

White Christmas

2008-12-16T11:12:00.001-07:00

In the 10 years since I have moved from California, I have not had a white Christmas yet. The main reason was that each Christmas I still went home, so of course there was no snow. But this is the third year that I am in an area where it is possible to have a white Christmas. I guess the questions I am asking is, what constitutes a white Christmas?

What I mean is this, does it have to actually be snowing on Christmas day for it to be considered a white Christmas? Or does it mean that there has to be snow around, like on the ground for it to be considered a white Christmas? If the answer is the latter, then I think I am guaranteed my first white Christmas ever. If it is the former, then that will have to be determined yet. The way the weather is now, I think we are guaranteed snow on the ground at least. So, I guess I will see if it is worth all the hype...finally.

Christmas mood

2008-12-12T10:18:00.002-07:00

This year is my first year of leading Advent services and really preparing for Christmas and New Years Eve. Last year we were in the middle of a move and everything seemed so out of place and it was just a blur for the most part. This year is a little different. We are settled in and have been here for a while and we know the area pretty well.

With that being said, I still feel that it is hard to get in the "Christmas mood." This morning as I am preparing for the third Sunday of Advent, I was thinking about how I need to really reflect on what Christmas is all about. You would think it is easy to do this when you are in ministry. But I think that since there is a lot on my mind about the upcoming services, it makes it difficult to really get in the Christmas mood.

As I prepare for Christmas and advent, I think I need to take some time to do more reflecting on the meaning of Christmas and advent. It is something that many people can go into auto pilot when they think about Christmas. How can we make the Christmas story new and exciting? Do we need to? Should we use the K.I.S.S model (Keep It Simple, Stupid) during this time of year? Do we need to get back to basics when it comes to Christmas? We celebrate the birth of our Savior and Lord. We celebrate his coming, and we wait his coming again. Hopefully we arent too wrapped up in our own things that we take this for granted. Hopefully we can honestly say as John says in Revelation 22:20, "Come, Lord Jesus"

Energizing

2008-12-11T09:38:00.002-07:00

A few posts ago I asked the question what wears us out. In that, I think I talked about what energizes us as well. For me playing sports has always been the best way for me to get energy. The last few weeks I have been driving to Lethbridge to play basketball on Wednesday nights. After the first week I said to my wife, "I really miss playing." At Seminary I was able to play basketball 3 mornings a week at 6:30, plus I was able to play on intramurals as well as volleyball with friends.

I was noticing again last night that I really enjoy getting out there and playing. Life in the ministry can be lonely at points. Especially when we get close to the holidays you really begin to miss your family. That last number of years we were able to be with some family during the holidays. But now is the second time that we arent able to be at home with our families. It is a busy time of year for me, but I realize that playing basketball has really helped me.

I find that I can have a good time with a bunch of guys that I really dont know, but am getting to know over time. It is a lot of fun to play hard and competitively, but also to respect each other. I am finally getting in to shape, at least a little bit.

On a different note, I am not looking forward to this weekend. Not that there is anything that makes it extra busy or anything, it is just the fact that they are forecasting a high -25 celsius (-13 Farenheit) as a high on Monday! Saturday and Sunday arent much better. I was thinking of going skiing on Monday to practice a bit, but not in -25 thank you very much!!

Walking in the cold

2008-12-03T13:51:00.002-07:00

Coming from a native Southern Californian, this might sound strange. I just enjoyed my walk outside in the cold. It sounds especially strange since I am not a fan of walking for exercise. However, since getting the puppy it has forced me to go on longer walks then I ever would have done before. I am actually starting to enjoy them.

As I was on my walk, even though Pepper wasnt really following me that well, I was thinking about how much I enjoyed it. It is -7 Celsius or 19 Fahrenheit, growing up I dont think I could have ever imagined that cold of weather. But having lived in cold weather country for the past 10 years, you start to get used to it, or not mind it as much. (That is what I say now in December, talk to me in February or March, see how I feel then.) I was thinking about the fact that there was no wind and it wasnt so bad. It is a bit invigorating to walk out in the cold.

Not only is it healthy to walk every day, but I am finding that I think about God's creation as I am on my walk. Today again is different than yesterday, but both were beautiful days in their own way. It is amazing to me to see God's creation and all the minute little details that he has made. Yet, he gave it to us. Often times we take it for granted. I know for myself, I am being reminded of how great a God we have.

I can't believe it

2008-12-02T15:39:00.002-07:00

I was/am sick to my stomach. Yesterday I did something that I cant simply believe. I went to the local ice arena where I can skate for a while, usually, by myself as I am still learning. While I was there, I decided it would be a good idea to put my wedding ring in my pocket while I mess around with the hockey puck and stick.

Well, I put it in my pocket thinking that was the best place for it. Do you think I remembered right away to put it back on my finger? No, it didnt occur to me until later last night that I didnt have my ring. In a panic I reached in my pocket and my ring was not there. I didnt search too much, maybe I will later, but I think the thing that happened was it fell out of my pocket when I reached for my keys either at the Ice arena or the grocery store since I stopped there next. I dont remember hearing it, but, that is the only thing I can think of.

I felt so terrible I didnt know how to tell my wife last night until we were in bed. We thought we had purchased some sort of insurance with the ring when we bought it. But, of course it doesnt cover loss, it covers re-sizing and things like that, but not replacement. Anyway, I still cant believe it and feel terrible. But, what can I do?

Happy Thanksgiving, part 2

2008-11-27T10:25:00.002-07:00

Today is American Thanksgiving. Thinking about that this morning has made me a bit homesick. I have never really thought about being away from home much. But hearing that my family was going camping for Thanksgiving it makes me want to be there with them. Oh, to be camping by a lake at the end of November.

Being homesick hasnt really happened to me for a long time. I have been away from home for 10 years now, I should be accustomed to it by now. Things that help are the fact that we have a great church community here. Knowing that we are loved and welcomed as a part of the family here has been great. Going to things like volleyball tonight will really help. I played basketball for the first time in months last night and realized how much I miss playing. I find if I keep myself busy enough, then you dont have time to think about missing out on camping. Having a job where you sit in your office and think sometimes doesnt help. But, in general I dont get homesick.

One thing that I am looking forward to, at least a little bit, is the fact that we are celebrating American Thanksgiving on Saturday with some others in the area who are American. I think this is a neat idea. Last year I remember missing Thanksgiving especially because we received American TV channels and I could watch Football on that day!

Anyway, on this Thanksgiving Day, I am thankful for family, friends, and a great church community. We are really blessed to be here in Granum. Both my wife and I feel this way. We love being here and are extremely thankful. Most of all I am thankful for our Lord and Savior that he came to us. We begin Advent and celebrate his coming, and we wait his coming again. Thank you Jesus for giving yourself for us!

Feeling guilty

2008-11-25T10:22:00.002-07:00

This past weekend I actually had the Sunday off and decided it was time to take my wife on a weekend getaway. She had no idea of where we were going or anything. It was a lot of fun to plan this without her knowing. We went to Banff national park and stayed at a nice lodge with a fireplace and kitchen. We went to the hot springs and went up the Banff Gondola. It was a really nice time.

When I got home, there was a message on my machine that someone in our church had a heart attack. It was bad enough that they sent him to Calgary. The thing that got me was that we just came through there. It was too bad I didnt know about it earlier we could have stopped on the way home.

This got me thinking about the weekend. I started to feel a little guilty that we werent around for this. So, on my day off I went up to visit him. Should I feel guilty about spending some quality time with my wife? I feel a little guilty, but then on the other hand, I need to do these things for my own personal life as well as my sanity. Again, some conflicting feelings.

It's not about me

2008-11-21T09:10:00.001-07:00

I am constantly amazed by different things in the ministry. Yesterday for example: In the afternoon, I wasnt feeling like doing much. I felt like I could go to the bakery and sit and read my book and I would be content. (Which for me is surprising that I would be content reading a book.) But I felt I should go make some visits. It was almost reluctantly that I went to visit some of those who live in rest homes.

The first one was asleep and I thought, well this is my sign to just go to the bakery. But, I thought, no, I should do this. So I went to visit a couple of others and wow, I was amazed at how they made me feel good. I was excited about their reaction to seeing me. Not only that, but the people I visited with are so positive. They are in their 80's and 90's and yet have a very positive attitude about life. Visiting with them lifted my spirits. It's amazing how we can be ministered to at the same time of ministering to others. What a blessing.

What wears us out?

2008-11-20T14:07:00.002-07:00

I was asked this question by my mentor. This is a good question. I think this is something that changes from time to time. I dont think that certain things tire us out all the time, but at certain points things that might be frustrating might tire us out. In ministry there are things that will tire us out. However, there are things that should give us energy or perk us up.

Talking about this yesterday made me think of things that really make me feel good. There are a lot of things that perk me up and give me energy. Playing sports is one thing that really energizes me. But, this is a problem for me. Where we live makes it difficult to play the sports I love. We started volleyball in town which has been good for me. The main sport that I really miss is basketball.

The question I think I should ask myself is if I am too lazy lately? There is the opportunity to play basketball in a town that is a half hour away from me. The thing is, it is on Wednesday nights. Am I too lazy to drive that far to play the sport I love? Do I always have make appointments on Wednesday nights so I have an excuse not to drive that far?

Since living in Canada, I have taken an interest in hockey. So now I am trying to organize playing hockey in one of the nearby towns. But again this will take some time to get together.

I think there are other things that energize me, I just need to find them. I need to be able to do them more often so that it helps my mood. I do miss playing basketball 3 days a week like I did at Seminary. I miss the fellowship as well as the exercise. I think this weekend will help energize me. I am taking my wife away for the weekend, she doesnt know where yet. We dont get many weekends, and since I have Sunday off, I am taking advantage of it. I am really looking forward to it.

Should Size Matter?

2008-11-19T10:47:00.001-07:00

First of all, everyone get their mind out of the gutter. What I am talking about is with regards to youth group. We have a small youth group this year, and an even smaller one next year. Currently we have a possible 6-8 kids that potentially could come to youth group. So, if 1 or 2 dont show up, that makes the group really small.

The thing I struggle with is what to do with such a small group. Last year on my internship we had a group of close to 25-30 each time. In a large group you can do bigger games, better activities, etc. With a small group, what can we do? Should we just hang out and play games, or should I actually try to have a discussion with them?

I struggle with this question. I struggle with how much effort I should put into planning for the youth group meetings. A question that arises in my mind is, "If they dont want to be here, why should I spend my time planning things?" Is this a bad attitude to have? Just some thoughts that I have had the last couple of times we had a youth group meeting. I would be interested to hear some opinions or advice on this matter.

Walking Barefoot

2008-11-13T12:36:00.002-07:00

One of the things I remember from my Pastor Care class at Seminary was a saying that Professor Nydam said. We were talking about Empathy and how we can show empathy to members in our congregations. The way he described empathy was this: "It is walking barefoot beside them through their trial." At first it sounded kind of cheesy. But having done some more reflection on this it makes a lot of sense.

When someone in our congregation is going through a hard time, as pastors it is our calling to be with them in this process. It doesn't mean that we will feel exactly how they will feel. But what it means is that we are there beside them, we struggle along with them. We hurt as they hurt.

I was thinking about this yesterday as I visited with Roy. Roy is the brother who was driving the car when his sister was killed a few weeks ago. (See earlier post, "Mixed Emotions) Roy is doing okay, but is back in the hospital. I went to see him yesterday and there are a lot of things that he is feeling. I think there is an overwhelming sense of guilt. He said a few times, "If only I would have gone back." He also said, "It's not fair that he is alive."

It is in these times that we really are walking barefoot beside them, or we should be. I mean, if we were to put ourselves in his shoes, how would we feel? I cant even begin to imagine. But it is in these times that as a pastor we can be there to listen, to try and offer some words of comfort, but those are hard to come by. The only thing that is comforting is the assurance that he has that his sister is with her Lord. In times like these we can offer words of hope as we walk barefoot beside them.

How can I help

2008-11-12T15:35:00.002-07:00

Today I was thinking, can you care for someone too much?? I mean, when you love someone and you truly care for them, when they hurt, you hurt along with them. Coming from a man, it is extremely difficult to sit by and not be able to just "fix" whatever is wrong. I think that is something that is bothering me too. Since I can't just fix the problem, what can I do to help? What can you do when the person you love is hurting? How can I help? I want to fix the problem, but not sure how.

Mixed Emotions

2008-11-03T14:17:00.002-07:00

Yesterday was a challenging Sunday. Just before the morning service someone came in and said they saw a bad accident on the way to church. Living in the country, when there are bad accidents, they are usually really bad. Not only that, but they thought it was someone from our church. They thought it was a brother and sister who have lived together for many years. She was in her 90's and he in his 70's. Well, when I heard this, I thought, he is supposed to be on the Piano this morning. So I went in the sanctuary and saw he wasnt playing. THis was not normal, he is always there since he loves to play the piano.

Immediately when I saw this my heart sunk. I had a bad feeling it was them in the accident, but we had no way of knowing. At the beginning of the service I saw some family members going in and out and it seemed to confirm it.

After the service we learned that the sister died in the car accident. We made an announcement in the fellowship hall, and after some phone calls off to the hospital I went. The brother was doing okay, so I thought I should go to be with the family.

This is where the really difficult part comes in. We got to the hospital, and he was going to be released soon. What is so hard about this is the fact that we are glad that he was okay and was able to go home, yet on the other hand, his sister had died in the car accident. The challenging thing is, how do you minister in this situation. You are glad one is alive, but sad that the other is not.

The amazing thing to me was the fact that I was able to get through the service with all that was going on in my mind. I had a bad feeling that someone was killed, but wasn't 100% sure. Yet, the service was able to continue on, and it really seemed to me that there was an extra measure of volume in the congregation singing. I dont know if it was just me, or if the Spirit was extra evident during this service. Anyway, I am just amazed, but also have mixed emotions right now.

Fun with the Puppy

2008-10-28T16:33:00.001-06:00

As the weeks go by, and they seem to go by way to fast, we are learning more and more how fun it is to have a puppy. We also learn the frustrations as well. But we are having fun seeing how she plays. Last night we found out something that was quite hilarious. We have been given a lot of carrots from people in our church. So as we were having some the other night, we thought, let's see how Pepper likes these, so we gave her a piece. She played with it like it was a toy. It was quite fun to watch. So, to keep her entertained for a while, we would give her some pieces of carrot. They now work as a great substitute for treats. It is quite amusing sometimes what she does.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-10-13T08:22:00.001-06:00

As was suggested, here is the article I wrote for the local press. I think it is appropriate since today is Thanksgiving here in Canada.

Time to be Thankful

At this time of year we are reminded to be thankful. In the coming week we will be celebrating Thanksgiving Day. For many people Thanksgiving Day is just another day off. However it is one day set aside to help us to remember to be thankful. Living in Canada we have a lot to be thankful for. We enjoy a lot of freedoms in this country that many people around the world do not have. We are greatly blessed to live in such a place.

At this time of year we are reminded to be thankful to the One who has blessed us with so much. We thank God for all his many blessings. Psalm 136 reminds us that we are to “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.” In this Psalm there is a line that is repeated after each phrase. That line is, “His love endures forever.” The Psalm begins by saying, “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords. His love endures forever…” The repetition of the phrase “His love endures forever” reminds us of why we are to give thanks.

We give thanks most of all because God’s love endures forever. No matter what you are faced with, “His love endures forever.” If you have cancer and don’t have a good prognosis, even in the midst of that “His love endures forever.” If you are struggling financially, even in the midst of that, “His love endures forever.”

If you are doing really well, and have many good things happening in your life, “His love endures forever.” We need to remember that all good things come from the one whose “love endures forever.” We are reminded to give thanks. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Thessalonians, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (I Thess. 5:16-18) Paul of all people knew what it was like to suffer. He was persecuted, beaten, imprisoned, yet he still urges everyone to give thanks in all circumstances.

Some might wonder how can you be thankful when things are going wrong in my life? We can do this because we have confidence in the great creator. As Psalm 136 continues to remind us to give thanks “to him who alone does great wonders, who by his understanding made the heavens, who spread out the earth upon the waters, who made the great lights.” Why? Because “His love endures forever.”

His love does endure forever. He sent his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross to save us from our sin. Through his son, his love continues on, it endures forever. It is because of his great love for us, we are saved from our sins. In this time of year we have one day that is set aside for the main reason of giving thanks. To give thanks in good times and in bad. We can give thanks to “the God of heaven. His love endures forever.”

Frustrating

2008-10-09T09:30:00.002-06:00

Why is it that sometimes the smallest things will frustrate us? In ministry there are a lot of things that can get under our skin, that is if we let them. But it seems as if sometimes the smallest things will affect us more than other things. Sometimes it is easier to let some things go in one ear and out the other. Other times, a small, minor comment might stick with us for hours or days.

For example: Where I live we have a fairly active ministerial. A ministerial is the group of pastors from all the area churches that get together and plan activities or just get together for coffee. Anyway, in this particular ministerial we are asked to write an article for the local paper. Last week it was my turn to write the article. I tend to find this very difficult to do. It is completely wide open and there is no guidance given. Coming up with a topic is sometimes hard to do. But, I figured the paper would be coming out the Wednesday before Thanksgiving so something on Thanksgiving would be appropriate. I spent the time writing the article. Submitted it, and even had the editor tell me he received it. Then when the paper came out, it wasn't in the paper, and someone else had written an article.

I dont know why this bothers me so much. Maybe because I do find them difficult to write and when you take the time to do it in an already busy week, it is frustrating that they disregard it and dont even use it. Maybe this is a small thing, I just found it frustrating. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

Child of God?

2008-10-08T10:30:00.002-06:00

I have been thinking a lot about baptism lately. For a few reasons: First, I have been able to baptize 3 infants in the first 10 months of ministry. Second, I have started a new tradition in our church by introducing the baby after I have baptized it. When I do so, I say "(Child's name) is a child of God..." As a result of that I have had some interesting conversations about baptism with someone. Third, as I go through the Heidelberg Catechism, I have reached the discussion on sacraments and especially baptism. Finally, even before I received it in the mail, the Calvin Theological Seminary Forum has the entire issue dealing with baptism. To read this go here: http://calvinseminary.edu/pubs/forum/08fall.pdf

I find it interesting that all of these things have come together in the past few months. The main thing that has caused me to think so much about baptism, and infant baptism in particular is the discussion I had. In this discussion, the person was challenging me on what I meant when I said the baby was a "Child of God." In this discussion this person wanted to know if I meant they were physically a child of God, or spiritually. I agreed with this person that physically everyone is a child of God, since God created everyone. But for this person to be a spiritual child of God meant you were saved.

It is at this point we disagree. We agreed that baptism itself does not save the child. So, for this person, the child cannot be a spiritual child of God. For this person, they feel that a child of believing parents is blessed to be born into a home of believing parents, but would not consider them to be a spiritual child of God. In our conversation, it really seemed to hinge on this person's definition of a child of God.

We agreed on a lot of things. This person did not want to give any false assurance to parents, I agree. This person felt that baptism is a sign, not an actual saving element, I agree. But for this person, only those who are saved should be called children of God.

For this person then, Baptism should only be given to those who have a personal relationship with God. That is why I think the Forum article is so timely for me. It reaffirms everything I said to this person about infant baptism. It isn't about the person's choice to choose God. In infant baptism, God is the one choosing the child. As a community we also make promises to do our part in raising this child in the covenant.

I think that is what makes infant baptism so special. It is God who is doing the action. God alone is saying that this child is a child of his. That he loves this child so much, that he sent his son to die on the cross for him or her, even before they were born. The thing that made this whole discussion so challenging is the person's view on what is a Child of God. I couldn't fully agree with this person's definition because I know that baptism doesn't automatically save the child. But yet, God is separating the child and calling it to be his own, so I am still confident in saying at an infant baptism, "This is a child of God."

Immigration

2008-10-01T17:07:00.002-06:00

Immigrating to a new place is not the easiest thing to do. Even though I am married to a Canadian citizen; even though I have a job in Canada; even though it is a job that doesn't need a work visa - it is still challenging. Everything is affected by my temporary status. I can't import fully until I have my permanent residency. I cant get an Alberta License until I get my permanent residency. I couldn't even get financed for our car because I might skip the country soon.

It is a bit frustrating all the things that you have to do. Today I went for my medical exam for immigration. Well, it was basically a joke. Sure it didnt take that long, but the Doctor seemed more interested in talking to me about other people who have gone through this, or other people who havent showed up for their appointments. He told me stories about people who have medical history that is a lot worse then mine, yet they are allowed in. So, I was thinking, if they allow people in with such conditions in a social health care system, why do they put us through these hoops?

Is it a cash grab or what? The visit lasted less than an hour. I paid 186 dollars for this. He listened to my heart. Asked me some questions, hit each knee. Then sent me for an x-ray. Tomorrow I have to go back and get some lab work done, which I think I have to pay for that too.

I guess it is frustrating that you pay so much for the doctor to ask you questions you could have answered on your own. I could have weighed myself and checked my height. It seems a bit much if they accept people with worse anyway? What's the point?

Lesson in Patience

2008-09-23T12:07:00.001-06:00

The last post I talked about the fact that we got a new puppy. I think this is one of the greatest lessons of patience anyone can ever have. We have had her for over a week now and she is learning a lot. We are having a lot of fun, but there are also a lot of frustrations. Just when we think she is learning, she has an accident again. But, so it goes, she is only 9 weeks old.

Everyone we talk to says it is good practice for having kids. Well, then I guess I am happy we have a puppy first. It would be interesting to have kids without ever having gone through something like this. It is such an adjustment. But it is still fun.

It does make it hard to work sometimes. But, I am learning how to get things done when I can, and also to still have time to take her out and train her a little. It is a fun adventure, but we still need much patience!

New Puppy

2008-09-15T10:57:00.003-06:00

Well, it has been a while again since I wrote. Things have been a bit busy since we got home from Ontario two weeks ago. Last week I was golfing at a Christian School golf tournament and a Pastor from another church had a heart attack and died on the course. It was pretty tragic. As a result, I was asked last week to do a wedding this past Saturday. It ended up being a good thing.

But the other things that will keep us busy for the next while is the fact we got a new puppy. She is only 8 weeks old and she is a Weimaraner. So now we have the fun task of house training her. I think it will go okay as I work out of the house, but we need to train her to be okay when we are not home as well, that will be the interesting part. Anyway, this is a fun time now for us. I am looking forward to it! Another new challenge.

Interesting

2008-09-02T16:41:00.002-06:00

I haven't posted in a while due to some unexpected travel. My wife's grandfather passed away and we went back for the funeral. It was a good time to be with family and to see how the Christian community really supports people during a death in the family.

While there, we had the visitation with the family at the funeral home. This is when family and friends come and visit the family and also to witness the body of the one who has passed. It is tradition there to line up as a family to receive people as they come. Something we noticed which we thought was kind of funny was the number of people that commented on my height. It is funny to me, because if someone is short, people don't go up to them in a place like that and say, "Oh, your a small one!" I just find that funny....

Anyway, the one thing that I really wanted to comment on was the other thing people would say to me, that was: "Oh you are her husband, the minister." The reason this sticks out in my mind is because I guess, I haven't gotten my mind completely around the idea of the "specialness" of being a Minister. To some people it is very "special" to be a pastor. The reason I think that people feel this way is because you didn't hear people saying about my in-laws: "Oh, you are her husband the manager/dispatcher." Or, "You are his wife the nurse."

Being a pastor has a lot of different expectations from people. It isn't always easy to accept the role as representing Christ. As Fredrich Buechner puts it in Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy & Fair Tale, "...not because of anything he knows or anything he is in himself but because, as an ambassador is revered for the government he represents, he is to be revered for representing Christ." (pg. 40) This is hard to accept at times, but I think as a pastor I need to think of it in this way as well. It is not because of a degree I hold from a certain Seminary. But it is because I am representing Christ that people think my job is "special."

Numbers Game

2008-08-20T13:37:00.002-06:00

At a planning meeting for upcoming small groups I was really encouraged by something someone said in that meeting, but it also made me think a bit. In the discussion a question was raised as to whether or not the small groups would replace the evening service. Attendance at our evening service isn't outstanding by any means. We average about 30 people who attend the evening service. Which percentage wise from the morning service isn' t that great. We had a brief discussion then about this.

Sometimes as a Pastor I might get frustrated with the lack of attendance in the second service. I shared this a bit. It was interesting what an elder had to say then. He has shared this with me before, and I think I needed to hear it again.

The thing he said went along these lines: There are people who talk about canceling the evening service. It is interesting to note who the people are who want to cancel the evening service. It is usually the people who don't go anyway. So, really, why does it matter to them if we canceled the evening service? He also said, the people who should have a say, or vote whether or not we cancel the evening service should be limited to the 50 or so people that actually come to the second service. The one thing that I was reminded of again is the fact that the people who show up to the evening service want to be there. If we were to cancel the evening service, who would it affect, those who weren't coming anyway? Or would it affect those who really want to be there?

He had a great point and this really encouraged me. Yeah it may seem like a lot of time "wasted" to prepare for "only" 30 people. But would you rather prepare for 30 people who want to be there, or for those who don't want to be there?

This really got me thinking about how Pastors and churches think about success. Last year on my internship I found myself saying sometimes when only 12 kids would show up for youth group, well, this isn't enough to do what I was hoping to, so let's just watch a movie. Why do we think that we need more people to justify the amount of time we spend on something? Some churches only get 30 people in their doors a week.

I found out last year on my internship that no matter how many people showed up for a youth event, we still had a good time and made the best of it. I think we need to think this way sometimes about other things. Even if the numbers aren't that high, I think the quality of discussion or quality of the service is more important than quantity. So as our church begins this new venture of starting small groups, I pray that we don't measure its success purely by numbers. I hope that we can evaluate the quality of the discussions and how well people enjoyed going and how much people get out of the groups.

How to pray?

2008-08-19T11:25:00.002-06:00

In the past week my wife's grandfather has taken a turn for the worse. He has had a lot of complications with his breathing for a few years now. A few weeks ago he went on Oxygen, hoping that would comfort him. Then he was rushed to the hospital because his heart was almost out of control. It doesn't seem that he will make it out of this.

Talking with my wife she wondered, "How do you pray for Opa?" (Dutch term for Grandpa) This is a very interesting question. One that I have thought about on different occasions. When you love someone so much, you want them to be with you forever. Unfortunately, we will never live forever, and neither will our loved ones. In a time like this, we want our loved ones to be with us forever. So, we think we should pray for healing. We want Opa to be around forever.

Yet on the other hand he has had a hard time breathing for a few years. Each breath is like work for him. In the hot, humid Summers of Southern Ontario he struggles even more. The last time we visited with him he said he was sick of it. He was ready to go. That was a few months ago already. Now it appears he is close to death. Do we pray that he be healed and return to struggling for each breath? Or do we pray that the Lord would take him home soon?

No matter how many times one encounters death, it is never easy. I have experienced the death of 3 grandparents, 2 uncles, friends' parents, friends themselves, and a number of church members. No matter how many times one is faced with death, it is never easy. Each situation is different from another.

Oma, (dutch term for Grandma) said that Opa is ready to meet his redeemer. As a Christian we have the assurance of knowing Jesus died for us, so we can be with him. No matter how much we know this in our head, it still hurts our heart. Experiencing death always makes me think of the promise that Jesus will come again. At that time "They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away!" (Revelation 21:3-4).

In times like these we want to pray for ourselves. But we also pray that Opa wouldnt have to suffer any longer. In times like these I also want to pray, "Come quickly Lord Jesus!"

Is a Pastor ever "off"?

2008-08-13T13:10:00.002-06:00

I just had a conversation with a friend who is also a pastor. We discussed the whole idea of being a pastor and being "off" - that is, not officially working, or preaching. We wondered if that is ever truly possible?

I had been thinking about this for a while. As a pastor in a smaller community, is there ever a time when you are "off"? Even walking in to the Post Office people will recognize me (not to mention, I dont blend in well in crowds, being 6'7" and having red hair) and say hello Pastor.

I also thought about this with regards to my vacation and Sundays allowed "off." This passed Sunday was one of those "off" days. So, my wife and I attended a different church. This church is a church from our denomination but in a different town. Even there, I felt "on" so to speak. Sure I wasn't preaching, but people who know me, or my wife right away recognize me as "pastor." So even in a different church, I still felt like I had to be "on." I guess one way would be to go to a church of a different denomination where people might not recognize me.

But I was also thinking about this with regards to my vacation. I am allowed 4 weeks of vacation throughout the year. So far this year, the two vacations that we took were "working" vacations. I did two weddings and also preached in those two churches the following Sunday. It is hard to keep the balance of working and vacation. It is also hard to face the family pressure of preaching when home. Now don't get me wrong. I do love to preach. But when you are on vacation, it is nice to be "On vacation." It is nice to be able to be myself and not "Pastor" all the time.

With that being said, I do feel like at the church I am at, I can be myself most of the time. Maybe sometimes I should hold back more than I do. But that is what I really love about this church is that I can be myself, a normal person trying to follow Christ, helping others in their walk with Christ as well.

Privilege

2008-08-08T13:25:00.002-06:00

I was thinking the other day about the different privileges Pastors have. What brought this on was what happened while golfing with my dad and brother. We were paired up with two other golfers last week Saturday. After a few holes, we were discussing what the others did for work. While walking down the fairway with this one guy, he asked why I didnt drive truck like my dad and brother. I told him I drove during the summers in college, but I am now a Pastor in Canada. He right away said, "I am going through a separation and a divorce right now. I am just praying to God that he puts patience in my heart and strength to get through this."

This really made me think. I met this man, maybe an hour before when we started. Now, because he heard I was a pastor he immediately opens up about his divorce. As Pastors I think this is a privilege. People who might be complete strangers will open up to you, just because you are a pastor.

I also thought of other times where we are privileged. Last year on I was able to go into the ICU at a hospital to visit with someone from our church. Only family is allowed, but pastors are the only exception. This year also, the night of a serious accident I was able to visit with a member in the midst of his struggles.

It is hard sometimes to get my mind around this fact. Now that I am a pastor I am privileged to visit with people in some of their most trying moments in life. What an honor, and a privilege we have. But we dont do this on our own strength, or our own will. We go representing God and go with his message of hope. Being a pastor is not a job that you can leave at the church. But it is something that you are every single day. Which challenges me to represent Christ in all things.

Things I enjoy about the Ministry

2008-08-07T16:17:00.002-06:00

A few weeks back, a friend/colleague asked me what I enjoyed the most about ministry so far. That to me was an interesting question. One that I had not really thought of so far. Thinking about this I realize that the thing I enjoy the most about the ministry is also what can make the ministry so challenging. That thing is: People.

One of the reasons why I felt called to full time ministry was I enjoyed being with people. I am an extrovert. I love being around people. I love getting to know people, hearing their stories and being able to listen to whatever they have to say. I felt God saying, I want to use you to be able to reach out to people. I want you to love people for me.

Being in ministry for an entire 8 months now, I find that I love the interaction with people in our congregation. I love being able to be myself and not having to put on a facade because I am "the minister." I feel people can accept me for who I am, and hopefully that will build trust.

I said this was what I enjoyed the most about ministry, but it is also the most challenging thing about ministry as well. I have always felt that I didnt care what other people thought about me. I mean, I was 6'7" and had red/orange hair. I dont really blend in in a crowd. I thought I taught myself to not really care what people said or thought. But I find that is not as easy as it sounds. In ministry sometimes we have to have thick skin. Sometimes I find that it doesnt matter how thick your skin is, some things will bother you.

With all that being said, I still feel that God has called me to love his people. So to answer my friend's question, the thing I enjoy the most is the people.

Not that easy...

2008-08-06T11:37:00.002-06:00

Wow, I cant believe how fast time can go by. I think the last post was on July 17...I am finding out that it isnt that easy to keep posting on this. One of the challenges I find is that I feel I need to be very profound in what I write. But as I have been told, it doesnt all have to be so profound. I need to just write what I am thinking.

Well, since the last post, a lot has happened. We have been having a good summer so far. Thursday nights we started playing baseball in town here. It is a way I thought to have some good fellowship with people in our church as well as trying to invite people from the community. Some weeks it is hit or miss, (sorry for the bad pun, not intended.) But one week I was really encouraged. We had over 20 people show up, including 5 from town.

One of the people from town was a young woman who has lived here for only about a year. It was encouraging to talk to her a few days later to hear that it was exactly what she needed. She said she had been praying to God about what to do, she had found she was lonely and needed something. She was walking to the post office and saw our invitation, and she joined us. I hope that she will continue to come and that we can get to know her a bit better.

The Gospel Jamboree also took place in our small town. Somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 people came for this in our small town. Sunday morning our church put on a free breakfast. I guess we served over 600 people. It was also neat to see the tent packed for the interdenominational church service. It was pretty cool to see.

On July 28, Brenda and I left for California. We got up early and left at 4:00 am. We drove 22 hours and arrived in Big Bear California at 1:30 am. We drove 22 hours straight! It was a good trip, no problems. It is really amazing to see the country. We stayed at my uncle's cabin for a few days with my whole family. It was so much fun to see the nieces and nephew again! They grow up so fast it is hard to believe. While up there, the guys golfed one day and we went to the lake to swim. Not to mention the Horseshoe tournament we had, which of course I won, by throwing 2 ringers in the championship game! That was a lot of fun.

Thursday we went back down the mountain and had lunch with my cousin and his fiancee. It was really neat to meet her and her son. I was going to do their wedding on Friday night. I was really honored to do their wedding since he is 10 years older than I am. It was really cool to hear their story of how they met. It was fun to see some cousins I haven't seen in a number of years.

Sunday I was able to preach in my home church, that was a good experience, but it is my vacation, and I really struggle if I should do that while on vacation. We then left again Monday morning at 3:45. We drove for about 12-13 hours to Brigham City Utah. That was a nice day, but it was hot along the way. We were pulling our new tent trailer. We discovered it didnt take that much to set it up, and we did it without ever arguing! After setting it up, we went for a swim. It was fun, but we forgot towels, well, good thing the sun can dry us fast!

We left then Tuesday morning heading home. We had a good trip. Montana is really a beautiful state. Everything was going smooth until we hit the Canadian border. We wanted to import our trailer, which I had registered under my name. Well, I was not the smartest and didnt have the title or the bill of sale, so they wouldn't let it in. So, we had to find a place to park our trailer. We left it behind this shady bar, but it was hilarious to see how many vehicles from California are parked there until they get the proper paperwork. So, in a few weeks, I will be driving back to the border to pick up our trailer!

All in all, it was a very good trip. Only the one small hiccup at the end. I learned again why you should never assume...Now the hard part of trying to adjust back into the work routine. I am sure it will come easy since we have council tonight. Thanks for being patient, I hope to post more often now!

Exercise of Self-Discipline

2008-07-17T17:05:00.002-06:00

One of the comments made to my first attempt was to write often so as to get into the habit, or routine of writing. Over the past couple of weeks I have noticed that I have become lazy. Lazy for a couple of different reasons, excuses I guess they could be called. When I say I am lazy, I mean it in a couple of different areas of life. Physical laziness. Laziness with regards to work. And laziness in my spiritual life.

Like I said, there are always reasons, or excuses for this laziness. Some of it can be attributed to moving to a new place and trying to find a new schedule. Some of it can be that we live so far from everything that it takes a lot of time to get somewhere to do something. I love basketball, but to drive 30 minutes to play on Wednesday night seems like a long ways. Especially with gas prices the way they are and my truck isnt good on gas....See what I mean about the excuses!

Writing this blog is one area in which I am trying to exercise some self-discipline. It will take some self-discipline to write new entries. It will take some self-discipline to think how God is interacting with the world around us.

But, I am also trying to have some more self-discipline in other areas. I have never been really strong on personal devotions. I am now trying to take time out of the day to do devotions on a regular basis.

I also began exercising physically again. I ran 2 miles yesterday and biked 6 today. It is a start at least. The problem is, with physical exercise as well as spiritual exercise, I tend to start off with great motivations and great intentions. But soon, they wear off. So hopefully now that I have other areas to work on, I will achieve some goals, physically and spiritually.

No more excuses...

Giving it a Shot

2008-07-15T12:02:00.000-06:00

Well, here we go. This is my attempt at blogging. After talking with a friend about his blogging (crcpastorchad.wordpress.com), I thought, "that might be a good idea." I spend a lot of time in my study thinking about Sermons and such, and a lot of times other things come to mind that never really get flushed out. After we talked about blogging, I thought that would be a good way to put those thoughts down somewhere.

Since talking to him there have been some things that came up that I thought would be good to blog about. So, i am giving this a shot. I dont know how faithful I will be at posting, but I think this is a good exercise to write down my thoughts and to hear feedback if people agree or not. It is also a way that others can know about my life as a "new" pastor.

So please, bear with me as I try this new venture. I look forward to seeing what comes of this.