the joy of serving :)

Do you ever go to a restaurant and say, "Wow that service was horrible?" Or you go to a hardware store and you try to find an employee and say, "Where is the customer service...it is bad!"

It's very easy to recognize poor service. But enough about the negative, but what makes up good serving? Well, this past week I was able to be part of a team that found out the joy and satisfaction of serving. A group of friends gather at our house once a week to hang out, pray for each other and learn what it means to be servants of the Most High God. So as we talked about an area we could share and serve in the community, the area of VAST came up.

VAST is a school set up for kids who don't "fit in" (using those words sensitively and lightly) the regular school system. As we got to talk with the principal, we heard of some great opportunities to come alongside them. One of the areas we were able to step and serve was at their Christmas Party. We were asked to help with some set-up and cleaning of tables. (now I have never been much of a "crafty" guy, but thankfully some creative ladies stepped up with some phenomenal centerpieces).

Once we arrived at the hall, it was fun setting the stage for an amazing meal for the students. Our team came together as we knew our mission and came with energy ready to do whatever we could to help the staff from VAST. Now, it was truly amazing the overwhelming response of thankfulness that we received (as that certainly wasn't our goal). But I sure did learn, that when the goal is clear, and our hearts/ attitudes are ready to serve with joy....God will do the rest!

What a blessing & joy to serve!
As you approach this Christmas, look for opportunities to serve with a group of others (I'm guessing you will have a lot more fun when others are working alongside you).

Thinking like God

When you wake up in the morning...what drives you? What gives you purpose? Perhaps the alarm clock screaming at you pushes you to get out of your horizontal coma? Or maybe the realization that your job is waiting for you (and will happen even without you).

But how often do we wake up and think like God?

Peter had a stirring conversation with Jesus which went like this: From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matthew 16:21-23)

Jesus has explained to Peter that God was sending Jesus to the cross to suffer, but Peter, couldn't comprehend this idea....NO WAY! This isn't going to happen, says Peter....but immediately, Jesus puts Peter in his place, "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

Ouch, just when you think Peter would be understanding the great and sacrificial call on Peter's life, then he thinks about his own needs, about what he can see (no way, I don't want my friend, leader & mentor to suffer). I can surely relate to Peter.

Too often I see a situation and see things through what I can predict can happen. I see a difficulty in relationships through the predictable and safe, rather than the wild and miraculous....which God is all about doing!
So, a quick thought for today, what would your day or week look like if you thought and believed more about God's plans than yours? What would your perspective be if you had faith God was still able to do immeasurably more than you can ask or imagine?

Serve somebody

Bob Dylan writes a great song called, “You gotta serve somebody.” The lyrics go like this: You may be an ambassador to England or France, You may like to gamble, you might like to dance You may be the heavyweight champion of the world. But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed. You're gonna have to serve somebody, It may be the devil or it may be the Lord. But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

All of us as humans serve someone or something….like it or not – that’s just what we do. So when Jesus shows up and tells his followers – to stop aiming for a position of honor, but look for opportunities to serve and be humble, how did they react? How do we react?

For sure it’s one thing to say that we are willing to have a savior who forgives our sins; however, it is more of a challenge to realize that we have a new master & king who calls us to trust and obey him every day of our life.

Jesus says in Luke 14:11, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” This verse speaks of a way to help and serve others rather than thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to.

Even more we must wrestle with the thought that being a servant to God is a much better choice than being a servant to our own selfishness and tendency to be a people pleaser. Galatians 1:10 says, Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

What a radical shift from being lured into trying to get the approval of our friends, family, co-workers and rather choosing the desire to serve Christ. Every day we will be faced with the opportunity to go along with slander, gossip, greed, pride, rather than realizing that our identity comes from what Christ has done for us.

Ponder this quote about the Love of Jesus for us… Rebecca Manley Pippert says “whatever controls us really is our god.” By contrast, Jesus’ ownership of our lives is not a control that manipulates us or takes away our dignity...He governs our lives the right way: by being who he is without compromise and by insisting we become all that we are meant to be. And he tells us this can occur only through following him, obeying him and maintaining a living, passionate kinship to him....God created us for himself. If we are living with any center other than Jesus, we will be living incompletely....[H]e is the only one in the universe who can control us without destroying us. No one will ever love you like Jesus.”

Will you believe that Jesus can be the best master to serve?

Born Identity

What does it mean to be born again? Is this some term that only fanatical Christians are classified under ("born again Christians)?
In reading through John 3:1-10 - there is a dialogue between a religious leader, Nicodemus & Jesus, which challenges how we define ourselves. Jesus tells Nicodemus (and us also) that "no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born again." (John 3:3). In 2011, when it is more common to talk about the rebirth of a company (through a new marketing strategy), a spiritual rebirth may be a bit more of a stretch for some.
Also, the process and action of being born again, is initiated by God....not us. Hmm...so much for thinking that we can do enough good things to make it into heaven, but rather we must trust in the power of Jesus and what he has done on the cross to save us.
So, once we receive this new life, we move from having an allegiance of an old king (Satan) to the King of Kings (Jesus); we move from the kingdom of darkness, to the kingdom of light. All of these promises are so encouraging and amazing.
If you want to hear more about this new birth and the changes our identity takes click here: http://www.gatewaychurchpa.ca/sermons.htm (click on Sept. 25 - Identity).

On mission together....

On Friday, Naomi and I took on a monumental task together. As the weather was looking promising, and our motivation was enought, we started a hike up Mt. Arrowsmith (5967 feet). If you have ever been to Vancouver Island, you will see this magnificent peak. The route we took, called the Judges Route, is a steep ascent that had our muscles burning quickly (1km elevation gain in 6 km).
So as we headed up and up, I was reminded how we needed each other. Our mission was clear...to get to the top of the mountain, and we encouraged each other that we could do it.

I am reminded how we are able to lean in and help each other when we realize our common mission as followers of Jesus. This mission, to make disciples who are making disciples, is a call for everyone to participate in. As we understand and participate in the mission we will all grow in our care for each other and love for one another.

Let's join together in sharing the good news of Jesus. We get to live out...."Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Matthew 28:19

"Jesus you are..."

A couple weeks ago during our Sunday service we had an open prayer time. This prayer time started by sharing some prayers on a sheet of paper on our table, and then I would go and ask a few people to yell out what their prayers were.
Most responses were the usual (and yet still important) - for example - "God you are....creator....wonderful...powerful...faithful." Then we went on to talk about, "Jesus you are... & this is when the surprise came, when a young man shared, "Jesus you are....frustrating."
A bunch of people let out a chuckle, but this feeling of Jesus being "frustrating," was important to hear as following Jesus is not always a walk in the park. The Bible is filled with people who were willing to be vulnerable and honest with God.
Take a listen to these words of angst towards God:
"I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?” Psalm 42:9
"You are God my stronghold. Why have you rejected me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?" Psalm 43:2

These are just a few examples where followers of God were a bit "frustrated." So often we come to Jesus and realize a God that calls us to love Him and be devoted to him more than anything, means we will for sure be throw off our usual routine more than usual.

The interesting part of our faith journey is that in the end, we always come back to the important reality that God is still God and His will (as frustrating & annoying as it may be) will always continue.
May your prayers, and expressions of worship be open and honest, but always end up with trusting God who is faithful and always there for us.

Being Together

What is the church? And really do we understand what we are supposed to be representing? Do you ever head into a store in a big mall and wonder, "What in the world is this item doing in this store?" I remember going to a store when I was growing up, and you never knew what was going to be in that store - they had a lot of weird and crazy items, and yet I never bought much from there, b/c I guess I never really knew what to expect if I purchased the item there.

For me, it seems too often the church (not a service on a Sunday), but a group of people who are forgiven by Jesus and claim to have a new savior & king, forget what it is supposed to be representing. The apostle Paul makes the calling of the church pretty clear when he says, "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's spirit lives in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16). Wow - so this group of people are actually a people of worship. They are defined by how they live together and care for others, and most importantly represent Jesus.

So if you know Jesus, you can't be alone. Paul clears this up by saying, "You" which is plural, are "God's temple." So we are the church....together. So really it isn't an option of how am I feeling or do I have time, but we are the church when we are together. And to clarify this togetherness doesn't happen too well when we sit in rows, but community happens more effectively when we are in circles. Are we willing to sit and listen and love and care for one another.

I am challenged to think more about the church being us, rather than a production. I am challenged to see the church grow, by our willingness to show love to one another, rather than flashy programs. How do you see the church...being the church together?

Learning more about discipleship

Who is your teacher? Now if you are reading this and you are out of school, you may be wondering where I'm going with this question; however, over the course of our life, regardless of how long we live, we will have many teachers. Some teachers will have formal positions, such as our teachers in school, whereas others may be a bit less accredited but may have even more influence.

Remember the class clown in Grade 5, he taught us a lot about how to attract attention and keep the teacher close to insanity! Or there is the friend who stood beside us when we were struggling and taught us about compassion and care.

When Jesus walked up to people he invited them into a life of learning. A life of being an apprentice under the King of Heaven & Earth! Jesus gave the opportunity (and still does) to anyone to be a learner under the greatest person who ever lived this earth. Even today when he invites us into a relationship with Him, we have a choice whether we want Jesus to be the most influential teacher in our life.

Jesus teaches the students of his to be people who do now say, "Not my will but "your will be done." (Matthew 6:10). So which teacher will we follow and listen to today? Jesus offers us so much good instruction of how to live, but are we willing to listen and live it out?

Following & actually leading

Check out this crazy and awesome video that teaches so much about every type of leadership (& following) whether you are leading at church, home, work or at your place of rest.
I would love to hear some comments...do the principles in this video resonate with you?

Filling in a passage...Luke 12:49-59

Here is a brief explanation of the passage which I skipped in our week-by-week study in the book of Luke on Sunday mornings.

Luke 12:49-53 - is about how a relationship with Jesus doesn’t always bring the peace that people expect – why – b/c there will be some tension in relationships – there’s a whole list there of who we will be in conflict with b/c we decide to follow Jesus. Do you ever find this conflict arise? Perhaps you tell someone that you have met Jesus but they are not so impressed? Or they get a bit angry about your decision to become "fanatical" about Jesus (ie. you spend your time differently, your values are determined by God, you are way too generous); you can get a bit ostracized & excluded. In other countries literally they will have funerals for you as they believe you are beyond hope and have died.

The next passage (Luke 12:54-59) is a challenge to what we are anticipating & studying. Jesus calls people to their great interest in the weather. Jesus says, "Try to count how often you comment about the weather?" We are obsessed with the weather. Think about the most common app that comes with new - it's the weather app! We care so deeply about the weather, but we forget about realizing the importance of the time we are in – where the return of Jesus is close at hand!

Then Jesus says – make relationships right – don’t aim to go to court but reconcile before then.

Here's a more in-depth sermon by Mark Driscoll (pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle) from the passage:

A change in perspective

This past week, my daughter learned a quick lesson about life....and death. For her 8th birthday I had promised to buy her a goldfish, her first pet. So, when we got back from our holidays, we headed out to the store to buy a goldfish (the first strange find - is the store that sells goldfish doesn't sell food, a tank or anything to take care of a goldfish....so off to another store). Both Hannah and Sam were able to pick out their own goldfish. The excitement and anticipation of how they could take care of these little creatures was pricless :)

When we arrived home there was a steep learning curve, for all of us, about how to treat the water, how to feed the fish and how to keep the tank in pristine condition. Well, after 3 days, I noticed the tank was getting a bit dirty, so I decided it was time to exchange the water (as our tank was pretty small and had no filtration system). I transferred the fish into a mixing bowl and washed out the tank. Then I put the fish back into their clean new "home."
In the morning when Hannah got up, she looked at her fish and quietly announced, "I think my fish is dead." I came over and looked at the laboring little loved one, and said, "No I think he'll be okay (realizing the end was near)." I shifted the tank so the water would make him move and look like he was still swimming, but Hannah was not easily fooled. A tear formed in her eye, and mine too. Within a few minutes, after we returned from breakfast, her fish was resting on it's side on the bottom of the bowl. After some good discussion about the life expectancy of fish, and the disappointment in seeing a pet die, we decided to bury the fish after I came home from work.

When I arrived home, I asked Hannah to come inside as we would get the fish out of the bowl. I delicately extricated the fish out of the bowl and placed it on a plate. Hannah looked at it and said with a little smile, "Hmm, supper!"

I had to laugh, as so often in life we can get attached to certain things - our job, our hobby, our pet....and then something difficult happens.....so we grieve, we mourn, but then God brings us to a place where we can be thankful for the time we did have with that special something (or even someone). For sure, Hannah's "healing" happened quite quickly, and other areas of loss will take longer (months & years) to move past, but may the God of all creation, be the one who receives our tears and laughter - whether a fish is a pet or our next meal.

(PS - We did bury the fish. The other fish in the story is still alive).

Are we weird enough like New Testament Christians

Take a listen to Francis Chan as he compares our lives to the believers in the New Testament....who is weird based upon scripture:

Camp Bob

After 3 days at Camp Bob - only some pics (and a few words) can tell the story of an incredible week! I was invited to be the camp speaker at the family camp (and yes did bring Naomi and the kids up)....and it was awesome! God was doing some really cool things up at this great camp!
Watch this video and check out Camp Bob's website

How deep & How wide

What's the love of God like? Do you ever wonder how much love God really has for the world? John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son...." - So that sounds like a lot of love - to give your one child, one male child that you care for, and want to have relationship with - but then to send him to this earth to be a ransom/ a sacrifice for our sins - that is huge!

Paul describes the love of Jesus like this, "how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ" (Ephesians 3:18). There is so much of Christ's love to figure out and yet we can never truly understand how much Christ loved us!

If you have ever been out to the ocean (crazy question if you live on the West Coast), you have seen just a glimpse of the amount of water that is on this earth.....and yet what we see on the surface of the water, is just a fraction of how much is below. So, too we must, over and over be overwhelmed by the depth of the love of Christ.

Easter is about Jesus!

Well, Easter is almost here....and the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus is going to be amazing! You are invited to come join Gateway on Sunday at 10:30am @ John Paul Catholic School (8th & Maitland). Even if you have never been to a church service, or are very skeptical about the value of organized religion, this service will be relevant and powerful. Come on out!

recharging

Do you ever forget to recharge the battery on cell phone, so half way through the day you are just "praying" that your phone will keep going so those very important calls come through (of course we are all expecting calls from the President (our Prime Minister is lower on the list), our favourite rock star, or sports icon). And yes often we race through the down times forgetting to recharge those little devices (even our computer or ipod)....then we are forced to power down.

I have recently come to realize that the times to plug in our devices, are so similar to the importance of slowing down to recharge our lives. Where we take a breather from the treadmill of work (and even play), and stop to reflect - and here's the pivotal point - we reflect and recharge by reading God's word.

There is a huge difference from the ways and teachings of eastern religions that say to focus on nothing or empty your mind of everything, for Jesus spoke about coming to God and allowing him to redefine your identity by what he has done for us. We learn that God wants to us to bring our worries, stress, fear and questions to him. Imagine what would happen if we could live out these words:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”(Matthew 11:28-30).

There is an opportunity to be recharged by the God of creation, rather than trying to run on empty ourselves. An amazing opportunity to find rest from God who will walk with us each day. God wants to fill us with joy for each day.

Open a Bible and be recharged by words of life and freedom!

the sorrow of lost lives in Japan

After watching more footage again this morning of the Tsunami that happened in Japan on March 11, 2011, I am in shock. In the age of technology and media, we are able to see so many different camera angles, and personal footage of what took place, and so it makes the magnitude of the destruction seem even more incredible (which it surely is). You hear stories of where parents who owned a nightclub wouldn't leave, but the son left the town, and now he's searching for the bodies of his parents. You hear where half of a city of 17000 people may be gone. Hear where a wave of over 30 feet came in wiped out the entire town. You see cars & trucks tossed around like little toys. My heart and prayers go out to the people of Japan. There are so many people who have been affected in one way or another, and how do we respond, as a people so far away?
I must find strength in God, and pray that others who are deeply troubled in Japan would do the same. Here are some words that I have called out to on behalf of the family & friends who are searching and have lost loved ones:
"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging." Psalm 46:1-3

Other options to help will be to donate funds through agencies like Mennonite Central Committee or the Red Cross.

Wow - really all we can do is be thankful for what we do have....go give your family members a hug and tell them you love them....and pray for the country of Japan as they try to piece their shattered lives together - one day at a time.

the radical call to love our neighbor

Do you ever wonder what it means to love your neighbor as yourself? In some ways, I hope we all wrestle with this command that Jesus gives....but where do we come at the end of our discussion?
Will we act like the expert in the law (in Luke 10:29) who tries to "justify himself" - which really means he is trying to make excuses for why he didn't love those in need around him?

As I preached yesterday on the passage of the Good Samaritan and loving your neighbor as yourself (you can listen to the sermon here), it was definitely tough. Because so often I have come up with excuses (I think really good ones) why I haven't shared with those in need. I am really good at justifying my behavior of why I need to keep my money and resources close to me. But then I read this passage and hear how Jesus used a story of a Samaritan (who is a person who was hated by the Jews - avoided at all costs) to help the man who was beaten on the side of the road.

And anytime I think that I can't trust those around me to use the resources I share, wow I will be reminded of this quote:

“Christ loved us, and was kind to us, and was willing to relieve us, though we were very hateful persons, of an evil disposition, not deserving of any good…..so we should be willing to be kind to those who are….very undeserving” ("The Charity to the Poor" by Jonathan Edwards 369)

This is a powerful quote that destroys the self-righteous attitude that I so easily hold onto.

So....it's time to daily listen to God to who might be in need, and how we can share the resources that he has given us!
Get ready for an adventure!