A Comparison

I happened across something today.

A rare opportunity to compare two things.

Two things that are so alike, but yet so different.

Two things that almost never end up side by side.

And it made me smile.





Here are the pics I took to 'record' the comparison.

These 'machines' are both 3 years old, making them potentially archaic based on their industry, but one still functions fantastically. The other has new versions, slightly smaller, but nothing like the other.

I hope you enjoy the comparison yourself.

The battle between the smallest desktops of their time: the Mac Mini vs. the Dell Mini.

See you for yourself, I hope you smile too...

Women in Leadership

A few days ago, a friend and co-labourer asked me my thoughts on women in eldership. He figured I was well-read and researched on the subject. I am not.

However, I have spent time chatting with friends and other pastors, and poured over Scripture as relating to this subject. Below, you will find my very rushed, unedited (read the 'About Me' to the left), and potentially calloused response to him. I'd love feedback and thoughts in order to move myself and the Church forward in this thinking.

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In my mind, the whole of the Biblical text shows how holding to the truth of one specific word is not the intention of the Word. God doesn't necessarily change, but His will and desire for a people changes, especially as that people group goes through change. When Abraham came to Canaan, God wanted him to dwell alongside the people in tents. When the Israelites came back, He wanted them to rid the region of the Canaanites so as to not be ruined by their paganism. When Saul stretched the boundaries of the Kingdom, He wanted something of the same. When the Israelites failed in these things, He wanted them to live in captivity of another nation and still hold true to Him. When they returned, He wanted them to live in peace with their neighbours. When the Romans ruled, He wanted to begin a war of heart redemption, not of violence. etc....

The point being, God's will for us depends on the time, place, culture, people involved, and witness. He's always very concerned about what our lives and actions will say to our neighbours. When the rule of law was violence, He was willing to work within that framework.

I believe there were some New Testament communities for which Jesus' message and plan of no Gentile, no female, no slave, etc. was too hard to handle. Paul recommended these churches remain with what they could handle so as to remain in love and therefore give the best witness to the community. Some NT communities could handle it, so Paul celebrated with them and acknowledged the women who were in leadership of the community. It was also a cold hard fact that women did not have the time in the synagogue that men did, they didn't have the experience (or opportunity) to pour over the Scriptures, nor educate themselves in other ways. I can understand that they needed time before they could 'teach/lead' in order to get their wisdom/knowledge up to speed so to speak.

Today, not only are we 2000 years down the road of hearing Jesus' message, but lots of things have changed. Men were able to keep women out of leadership and education for a long time, but over the last 100 years, women in the West have received the same upbringing. The culture around us in North America now expects and practices equality (on almost all grounds). For us to not practice it, what kind of witness are we showing?

What would God's will be for us? To continue to subjugate women, and by doing so within this context/culture, disrespect and disenfranchise them? I can't imagine that He wants that. In our culture, we deem inequality a form of oppression, tyranny. But why do we stand up for "men being the head of the household and leadership of the church" in an oppressive way? Because it's men who have the power now, and it has to be their decision to see Scripture in a different light and give up that power. That can be hard to do for those who have thought the same way for 50+ years.

So ya, in my mind, men are the head of the family, as Christ is the head of the Church. We need to be an example worthy of following, and be willing to not only take the blame for our family but lay down our lives for them. It doesn't mean we have to or get to make all the decisions unilaterally.

In the church, I believe we should not only practice equality, but also humility. In humbleness, how about we submit to God, ask Him if women should/could be involved in leadership, step forward in faith, and see how He leads us. If He shows us that our moves are wrong (and not just by the strong, conservative men - and their families - leaving the church), and we need to believe that He can make that clear if He desires, then we step back. Move forward with that honest and authentic humbleness to God and each other, everyone knowing you're stepping out in faith. My experience of having women teach (allowed in our church) has been a tremendous blessing and value to our spiritual life. Would God work in this way if He was so against it? Can we move to allow women serve as Elders of the community too (which my church does not allow)?

I have experienced leadership groups with and without women. I personally have seen the tremendous value in having the varied opinions in the room. I believe that men and women's hearts and minds together better represent the heart and mind of God. But I don't have the time to get into that side of the argument...

Change

I love to create. I do so with many things. But changing those creations can sometimes slip my mind. Do I hate change? I don't think so. I usually feel good about the change once I'm done, so I can't hate it. I think it just slips my mind that I need to change things.

And that is the intro to tell you that I have finally changed my 'About Me' to the left of this page. Just a little. To make it accurate.

Done.

Sexual Innuendos

You ever wonder why some people have a knack for finding the 'sexual' in everything you say?

I do.

Is it me? Do I just lay them out there too often, knowingly or not, and thus people expect me to say something that has a hidden innuendo behind it? It seems that many youth, youth leaders, and my friends seem to always find things in my words that can be misconstrued. Ya, it can be funny sometimes, but I wonder if I need to check up on something so that I filter the words coming out of my mouth to negate these colourful searchers.

Regardless, I still find nothing inherently wrong with New Direction Ministries and their new campaign for Bridging the Gap (more to follow on these).

Giving Cody Hodgson His Just Desserts

Just a small note to tell you all how I feel about the recent World Junior Tournament.

First off, Canada won. I'm not only proud, but very happy, and emotionally stable (I wouldn't be if they had lost). I can celebrate all of this.

However, there's one thing I can't celebrate. Canada's John Tavares was named the MVP of the tournament. Now, Tavares is a great player, and had some nice goals. However, after watching every game, I can honestly (and perhaps objectively?) say that Tavares was not the best, nor the most important (or valuable) player on the ice for Canada. In my mind, there were two players at least that topped him. Those that came close were Esposito, Cormier, Benn, and Subban. But those that clearly surpassed him in my mind were Jordan Eberle and Cody Hodgson.

Now Jordan Eberle scored some big goals, one HUGE goal (with 5.4 seconds left in the semis to tie the game against the Russians), and proved playmaking and spirited play the entire tournament. There was never a time when I was disappointed with his play.

The same cannot be said for Tavares. He missed numerous chances on the doorstep (which have been called unmissable by him), some of his goals took little skill, and one in particular he would have missed the net by 3 feet from only two feet away but it bounced off the goaltender and into the net. He did have one of the nicest goals I've EVER seen in the first game, and his shootout goal was also full of skill and confidence (Eberle had scored a nicer one just a minute prior), but overall I was slightly disappointed.

Someone that only disappointed me once, with a bad giveaway after 10 minutes of lacklustre play, was Cody Hodgdson. Other than that 10 minutes, he played a COMPLETE tournament. He controls the puck extremely well, wins faceoffs regularly, is Canada's top penalty killing forward, and provides a classy leadership that does all his teammates well. But more, he also led the tournament in points. Tavares scored more goals, but only a couple. Cody had more points total, and he was the one often setting up the finish of Tavares.

So, to conclude, I'd like to give Cody Hodgson my vote for the Most Valuable Player of the 2009 World Junior Tournament. No offence to Thomas Hickey, but he clearly was the better vote for team Captain as well, and I will be surprised if he doesn't become a point a game player and Captain in the NHL. Although the Canucks are not my favourite team, I'm very excited to see him come play in our neck of woods next year.

So raise your glasses and toast the true captain of Team Canada and just MVP of this year's tournie.

13 In A Row

Need I say more? Our favourite local team has won 13 straight games. That's right. 13 straight. I mean, 13 stinking straight games! Just ridiculous.

The Victoria Salmon Kings lead the West Division, the National Conference, and the whole ECHL with 50 points, 24 wins, after just 35 games. To say I am pleased, is an understatement. Time the rest of you woke up and joined the run cause it's been a blast and should be a great time come June.



And in case you wondered, my Boston Bruins are leading the NHL as well and just concluded a 10 games winning streak. Hockey is fun for me right now.

My New Years Resolutions

So it's (again) been awhile since I've visited this blog and pleasured you all (Matty and my wife) with some witty prose. Well, as I let you know some of my New Years Resolutions (which I'm not really in fact making...), you'll see that may start to change.

I've never been one for making too many promises. One reason being that I'm not as good as I want to be at following through. So, I won't be making official resolutions this year, but I do have some thoughts on where I want the next 12 months to go and how things could positively change in my life. Read on...

TIME
I hope to use my time more wisely. I have done fairly well since Leilani has entered the world, but there's still plenty of room for improvement. One of those areas of improvement is in spending less time watching TV. Admittedly, I spend 95% of my time in front of the tube watching sports, which are hard to give up. But they are not the most important thing to me and can often seem that way based on how I spend my time. I hope to change that.

FOLLOW-THROUGH
I hope to keep my word. That's about it.

WRITING
I like writing. Whether I'm good at it or not is besides the point. I enjoy getting stuff out of my head and onto the page. I need to do that more. Through means like this blog, my prayer journal, sermon prep, sports discourse, or whatever, I just want to write more.

EXERCISE
Okay, the classic. But it's true. I'm in the worst shape of my life. Pretty simple to say that I want, and more importantly, NEED, to get back on the gravy train. There have been lots of excuses this year, as an ATV accident led to almost 4 months of inactivity with a torn meniscus and bummed up back. Last month I feel down the stairs with Leilani and saved her by giving up my ankle. That's still causing me to hobble badly and moan and wince every step. But still, I've been working out the last week, and it's feeling good. Hawaii is in 3 months and I don't want to be mistaken for the great white whale.

LOVE
I desire to show more love. To my wife, my daughter, my family, my friends, and to everyone. Regardless of how I do with this, I always can show more.

WORK
I love my job. It's more a life than a job really. And I love my life. But sometimes, I get bogged down by the meaningless. Or by the negative. I want to enjoy my job/life, and excel at it for God's sake. I hop this year I can do that.

And for now, that's all I got. I'll let you know how things go :)

It's Been Long Enough

Well, to say sorry just wouldn't suffice. I haven't posted here since, well, let's just say forever. I beg your blog-world forgiveness.

So, to appease you all, I am back, with pictures. Here's some to let you know what I've been up to lately.

Our little Leilani moments after birth:


Sleeping with mommy:


Another cute sleeping pic:


And what happens when she wakes up:


One of the best pics ever:


And a pic of my other new baby. Her name (currently) is Ebony:


Here she is chilling with her friends:


And that's all you get for now!

Psalm 128:1

So here's the follow-up I promised to my little artwork a few posts down. I'm still not going to answer all the questions this stuff may bring up... or just not yet. Anton would be upset if I did.

So the designs were spurred on by my sermon on Psalm 128. My imagination was peaked by the first verse: "Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in His ways." What does this verse say to us? What are we to learn of God through it?

I think this verse tells us of our appropriate relationship and response to God. I spent a good amount of time unpacking what it means to "fear the Lord" in my sermon, so I won't bore you with all that now (if you're interested, you can read it here, or listen to the mp3). But I suggest this fear is not a state of being scared, but rather a proper relationship with God where we respect Him as He is. That means that we have to let God be God.

I think we have a general tendency to only allow God to be who we want Him to be. We only accept or believe or submit to the aspects and characteristics of Him that we can handle. Essentially, we put God inside a box that we create, one with boundaries we can handle. Sadly, this means we are basically serving a God that is made in our image, made by us, instead of the other way around. And if this is the case, we are serving an untrue God.

So, to fear God, is really to accept that God is bigger than we can handle or understand. That is our right relationship with Him. In doing this, we let Him out of our box. It's quite simple to see where my graphic goes. I know, I'm simplistic. But I meditated over this passage and let my imagination take over, so I'm still thankful for what I was able to create (and it's a whole lot better than most of what I did).

Let us look back at the verse: "Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in His ways." I'm not going to get into what kind of 'blessing' I think God desires and provides for those who hold a right relationship with Him (again, listen to the sermon if you desire), but I will say that the 'walk in His ways" is a picture of our appropriate response. The psalmist is using walk God's path as a metaphor of responding to a right relationship with God. You can see my own picture of this.

I think when we contain God within our boundaries, we put ourselves ahead of Him. We say that we're more important. We become bigger than God. When we let God be God, we remove our box and serve the whole and true God, and our only response is surrender and humility toward Him. He is bigger, and much more important than us.

And that's that.

Since You Don't Want to Play...

Well it seems that only 2 people read this blog. I guess I overestimated with 4.

Since I've received no feedback comments (thanks to Sarah Pee and DLC for their comments) of people attempting their thoughts of my creations, I guess I'll just leave that one and move on to a new subject.

And I do realize that I recently (months ago) put up a post that many asked me to respond to with my own thoughts. I will do that. Sometime.

However, tomorrow (or Sunday :D ) I will put up some thoughts I've been having regarding my own personal and ministry focus on Jesus. It centres around the question of how well I actually know Jesus and how I could possibly bring Him to youth if I don't.

For today, I'm gonna leave it (and this horribly random post) to a congrats going out to our good friends Laura and Curtis Thiessen. Happy Baby-Making!!! Laura and Curt are the proud new parents of little cutie Ryan Matthew Thiessen (ya that's right, named after good ol' Uncle Matty). The baby boy was brought into the world yesterday at about 2:00 PM and weighed an astounding 9lbs 5ounces!! JL and I are so excited for our friends and for our own adventure to come in 4 weeks. And let me just say, we're gonna beat that 9 pound mark too!!

We're praying for you friends.

Gone So Long

I know, I know.

No one's reading this thing anymore cause no one's writing. Sorry to you all (well, the 4 of you). I have in fact been doing some writing lately, but it's been in the form of sermons instead. I had two back-to-back and it was a bit of a challenge, but it all worked out well in the end.

For one of them, I involved one of my youth in a little 'meditative imagination creation challenge' in which both of us would take two weeks and allow our imaginations to create whatever they wanted as we meditated on the passage I was speaking on (Psalm 128). I was not proud of much that I produced, but the ones I turned out in the middle of the second week made me happy.

I'm not going to write my thoughts on them now. But next week, I will. I'll give you all (well, again, the 4 of you) the chance to have your say and tell me what you think. What was I getting at? Read the Psalm yourself and tell me what you think. Next week I'll respond to some of the comments and tell you a little of what and why I created.

Looking forward to hearing from you. And don't forget to click on the images to get a larger view.

Enjoyed the Chat - Thanks

Well I just got off the 'phone' (Skype) with two of my favourite people who I miss dearly. JL and I were able to video chat with James and Hil out in the land of the London. They've had some interesting stories already which we got to hear and are settling in nicely in the Kingsley household. Thanks for the chat friends and I can't wait till next time.

One story they told us was about their recent adventure with Malcolm at Canada's Wonderland. I can't wait to go. But here's some video of the ride they went on. I hope you enjoy it. Usually I don't endorse video with bad language but this is both understandable and worth it. Wait for the 1:17 mark. Hilarious. You can also get actual good video of this 'Behemoth' once the video is done and there's similar videos listed.

Some Good Thoughts

I recently read an article in Relevant magazine that addresses two key things I think about lots. The issue of youth ministry and it's long-term impact on individuals, as well as the idea of Church being something we can 'do' differently as we have attempted at The Place here at Lambrick.

It's a bit long and will take about 5 minutes, but I think it's worth the read.

Read "Faith No More" by Jesse Carey

The Funniest Thing I've Read in a Long Time...

Okay, so part of the youth ministry here at LPC is a leadership development program called Mission:Unlimited. This year, the group is going on a service trip to Ecuador. In order to raise funds for this trip, we are doing a Gala Dinner in a few weeks (if you're interested in coming, contact me for tickets).

So at this dinner, each youth has a table that is designated as theirs. They'll have their picture on it and a 1-page write-up telling the guests a little about themselves.

This is what Nigel Barry gave us for his write-up. This is his best attempt at selling himself to a group of Christians who will be potentially be sponsoring him to go on this trip. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did:

"Hello, my name is Nigel "The Rifle Rack" Barry. I am 18 years old and am graduating from St. Andrews this year (unless I fail, then I guess I'll be doing it again! lol). Anyways, in my spare time, I like destroying things like ant-hills with illegal explosives imported from eastern Romania. I also enjoy catching fish, then eating them shortly after as it makes me feel like a dinosaur or a cave-man. When I am tired, I simply fall asleep wherever it is that I am. I don't care what people think about me. When I was three years old, I ate a worm.

I'm also quite intrigued by way, but I don't really agree with the whole idea of killing people, so I play video games instead. Imagine if in war, they weren't allowed to use guns, or other shooting projectiles/gasses, and could only throw eggs, baby carrots, and rabbit droppings... Hitler would not be famous.

I have amazing dreams both in colour and in sound where I accomplish great feats, but forget them as soon as I wake up. I once skied my way down from the top of Mount Everest with an injured fellow strapped to my back. I can drive with my eyes closed, I can't stand the sound of people chewing, and I once wrestled an armadillo. I am the reason for the rising price of oil. Once in a while, when I'm feeling frisky, I'll go for a walk in the park wearing nothing but a jock-strap. Light sabers don't faze me. I taught Tiger Woods how to swing a golf club, and Chuck Norris is my daddy. I designed and engineered the Eiffel Tower and the Sistine Chapel in 21 hours before selling the plans to Michelangelo, Maurice Koechlin, & Emile Nouguier for their souls.

I am going to Ecuador to grow as a person and gain self experiences by helping others. I hope this trip will change the whole vision of my future life."

As you can see, I have an amazing pleasure in being able to hang out with some extremely gifted youth.

The Ironman Challenge

A new challenge. Music to my ears.

Friends of mine work for Young Life, and recently I asked how I could support them in their upcoming fundraising effort. It's the Ironman Invitational Golf Tournament on June 23rd. And even with late notice, they said the best thing I could do was to... well, GOLF! (and no, it's not miniature despite the picture)

They say it's not easy. 100 holes in one day. They say your body will ache. 5.45 rounds in 12 hours. They say it's a challenge to not take lightly.

I say... BRING IT ON!

I am so excited to be able to help support Young Life by being a part of this amazing fundraising opportunity.

However, you might be asking yourself why I, a church Youth Pastor and eager Camp Imadene supporter, would be fundraising for Young Life... Well, there's lots of reasons. So since this is my blog, and I can say whatever I want, and since many of you have been begging for action for awhile, I'm gonna tell you. If you don't care, just skip to the last paragraph.

Reasons why I, Andy, am a strong supporter (and now fundraiser) of Young Life:
1) Young Life is a great ministry. No questions asked. They have a heart to reach teens for Christ, to seek them out in their world, and to lead them to new life. What's not to support?!

2) I have a many good friends who volunteer and work with Young Life. In particular, Rob Priestly and Jon Blaney, both work full time and count on other's support for their entire paycheque and ministry costs. So I want to support them as friends.

3) My church, Lambrick Park, supports Young Life with funds. More than that, we are partners with them in the Lord's ministry. Even more than that, most Young Life Victoria staff and volunteers go to Lambrick Park (the Place) and therefore their work with YL is in many ways a ministry of our church.

4) Taking the previous thought further, I see Young Life as in integral part of my model of youth ministry. I focus most of my energy on churched youth, those who have already realized the reality of what God has done for them. My hope is to walk alongside them as they seek to allow Christ to be the Lord of their lives, as well as walking alongside their parents in supporting and bringing up their children to love and serve God the best they know how.
However, Young Life works in a different way. They aren't looking for church kids. They are seeking out those who do not know God. They go to where the students are (mostly their schools), meet with them, and through the kids friendships start building a relationship that will one day prayerfuly see those individuals change their lives for the sake of Christ.
Young Life and Lambrick work in a partnership of Youth Ministry. Sometimes we send those (young) adults who are interested in outreach-focused ministry to Young Life to serve as leaders. When kids become Christians, they start coming with their friends and leaders to the Place to enter into a community of believers and some start coming to our youth groups or Bible studies or leadership development programs. Basically, it's a wonderful relationship where we can support and help each other and work alongsode each to see God's Kingdom furthered. Who can argue with that!

So that's basically why I'm doing it. Plus, it'll be a great time to hang with some wonderful Young Life staff, leaders, and kids, as well as a time for me to hang with some of my own kids (my caddies).

If you can, I'd love to have you partner with me as I take this 100 hole golf challenge. The point is to raise funds. My friends who work for Young Life have to earn every penny through support that they run their ministry on and get paid by. So every dollar counts and will help me reach my goal of $1500. Please sponsor whatever you can.

You can go to this page to make online donations by credit card. Otherwise you can email me or just drop a toonie in my pocket. Donations over $20 will be receipted for tax purposes.