The Way we Were..

"It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." Eph 4:11-13

This is a picture of how the church was meant to work, and how it was conducted in its earliest (and purest) form. In modern circles it is referred to as the 5-fold ministry, or 5 areas of apointment (thanks to Richard for this little bit of commentary). Notice that each of the 5 assignements seems given to equal important, and in fact the language of the verse indicates (to me at least) that the body was meant to be run with each of these aspects in its proper focus. Just as a physical body cannot function without a brain, a heart, lungs, stomach and bowels, so the church cannot properly run without these five components working in their proper place.

The word 'pastor' used in this passage, by the way, is in the original greek - 'poimen' which means shepherd. This is a vastly different concept than the people we now know as 'pastors'. So what happened?!

99% of Christians go to a "church". 99% (not an exact statistic, but I would say it is a conservative estimate, if anything) of "churches" subsist on a "pastor" who teaches on sunday mornings and occasionally visits people throughout the week when they are sick, or to "touch base", but there isn't a really cohesive sense of actual pastoring (shepherding) between "pastor" and congregant unless there is a decided need for it, such as being sick, or with the recent and disturbing events at my usual gathering, which prompted our "pastor" to pay a visit.

Now don't get me wrong, I love our "pastor", and I think he does an incredibly good job at the role in which in he is in. I consider him a friend and a man of God, but having a relationship with a person that consists of seeing them once a week (and only if I decide to go to "church"), usually while they are preaching to the congregation, can hardly be considered the same as the shepherding relationship we see as being the pastor's role in the Bible. A Pastor is someone who exists in your day-to-day life as a mentor or a guide. Someone who really knows you and walks alongside. Clearly this is not what the modern-day "pastor" is for.

I get a picture of the new testament churches being extremely lively and unpredictable much of time, with new people constantly coming in to teach the congregation about new and exciting revelations of God. It was probably impossible to ever hear the same teaching twice because there was always something new happening in the spirit.

At the same time you would have prophets in the gathering who would be hearing from God and sharing this with gathering, or maybe praying over people IN the prophetic, and this would be every bit as important as the teaching. You would have evangelists who would be engaging unbelievers in RELATIONAL evangelism - being a friend and a helper and evangelising through everyday life first, and through words last, and only when needed.

There would be apostles (aka missionaries) and these would be sent out not only to other countries but into our own communities - into the slums and dark places, and all over, as God led. And then, walking alongside the congregation would be the pastors, quietly ministering, guiding and counselling those under his care, through life, not just through church services.
A very different dynamic exists today.

Instead of the original 5-fold ministry where everyone was annointed with one of the five appointments and each was just as important as all the others, albeit having different roles, we have turned it into a 1-fold ministry where the "pastor" is the king of the castle - a bastard cross of the biblical appointments of teacher/preacher and evangelist, while apostles, prophets and shepherds are generally relegated to the "lay-person" category, or don't really factor into the equation for most Christians.

In my life, there are pastors - people who walk alongside with an air of experience who not only serve as mentors and guides, but as friends and confidantes. People with whom I can share things that I would never tell a deacon, or an intercessor or even my "pastor". It would be nice if we could call apples apples and oranges oranges, and recognize the differences as well as the value of each in the balanced diet that should be our church. Personally, I'm tired of having a steady diet of macaroni and cheese, but I'll write more about that a little later.

Absentee Poster??!

Okay, so it would appear I have been out of the blogging loop for quite some time, but I can explain - honestly I can!

A few updates..

I've been super busy at work - recently got promoted into a whole new arena and it is the busiest I have ever been since working here. Good, but hella busy!

Most of my free writing time has been spent on the novel, which has been renamed (permanently this time, I am fairly certain) to "Truestar's Fire". If I ever want to get anything published I've gotta put the nose to the grindstone in that area for sure.

Lisa and Ron and I went camping up at Strathcona (Ralph River) with Baron and had a jolly old time - Baron, as it turns out, is a capital swimmer, though I think we tired him out between all the of the kong retrieval, swimming and the icey cold glacier water, as he immediately demanded entry into our tent and slept for about 15 hours straight upon our return to camp.

Things within the community at SPC have started to see some redemption in areas that have been of great concern to me - this is truly a Godsend, but I will post more on that another time.

Also, Lisa and I are hopelessly addicted to CSI .. we've been renting the DVDs like they were going out of style and watched 6 episodes on saturday alone. That night I dreamt that I was part of the team. What can I say, it is a good show. Anyway, that's all for now.. I have some real meaty posts brewing that will hopefully be posted soon - stay tuned boys and girls!

A Sound of Thunder

Can you feel it? A deep rumbling coming from the very foundations of the Church. A change is on its way - a movement of God to usher his people into deeper relationship and deeper truth. Some are calling it the Next Reformation - just as the modern era ushered in the end of the domination of the Roman Catholic religion and the entry into denominational, charismatic expressions of Church, now the modern era has ended and we are being ushered into the post-modern. While the modern Church sought to erect artificial walls, structures and organizations (i.e. denominations) and started to "do church" instead of "be church", the post-modern now seeks to breaks those artificual structures apart - to effect relationships in place of divisions. Some people also use the image of a brand new generation of Church that is the process of Emerging - the state of being Emergent.

There is a kind of freedom involved - a step away from being religionists and toward being simply Christian. That is to say human, flawed, sinful - and yet forgiven, redeemed and related both to God and to each other. Instead of sunday-morning preaching (where a large group of people get together inside the walls of a building in order to act as audience while one person talks about what is on his or her heart) being the primary mode of expounding truth, the emphasis is starting to become focused on a conversation (a dialogue between two or more people that allows for the hearts of all involved to be expressed equally)- perhaps one that meanders throughout the week through emails or blogs, or by getting together with friends over dinner or coffee.

For just about a year now, I have been a part of "The Feast", which is an informal gathering of Christian people who just want to get together over coffee, sing some songs and talk about what is on our hearts this week. It has been remarkable to me how much more I get out of that simple meeting than I do out of sunday services at "church". Not that God is not moving within that community, but there is a feeling of boxiness about it. We have a great pastor who has a lot of really good things to say, but more often than not what is being preached on sunday doesn't meet me where I am at that day. Sometimes it meets me where I was at a month ago, or where I will be a month from now, and that's the problem - what is on my heart now needs to be addressed right now, and that can only happen through organic conversation among equals.

A few nights ago Lisa and I had our close friends, the Petries (Anna and Richard) over for steak and stuff (my new found BBQing skills we put to the test, but I rose to the challenge), and it was so good to just be able to (as Richard said) "let it all hang out." To talk about things that were going on in our lives - work, play, church, etc, all of it culminating in SNL's The Best of Will Ferrell Volume 1 ("I've got a fever.. and the only prescription is more cowbell! Say it babies!").

Over the past little while we have also had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with our friends the Coles (Ron, Colleen, Megan and Ashley), hanging out, watching movies, having coffee, eating chilli or trying to coax some semblance of service out of little seaside eateries. But most of all talking. There is a feeling of acceptance there - where we can say whatever we feel like saying, and they just listen. No judgements, no attempts at correction - just conversation. It felt so good to be able to just drawl on about our marital difficulties, fights and general dysfunction, or our sordid family histories and pasts (some of it, I will admit, is rather shocking) and NOT to get the usual knee-jerk reaction. Instead it is a feeling of knowing familiarity that says "yeah, we've been there too, in fact we're STILL there." That, to me, is what the idea of the conversation is all about.

We all have places in which we are right and strong, and places where we are wrong and weak. Conversation allows for us to understand where another soul is at in their walk and also be understood by others without having to become defensive about it. It allows for the ability to CHOOSE the right paths instead of being forced down them through shame and unacceptance of where we are right now. Richard said something quite insightly when speaking of a mutual friend - he said that though he did not always understand or agree with everything said by our friend, he chose to love him anyway, because "I see Christ in him."

So now the church of the modern era has a choice to make in the face of this oncoming shift into the post-modern era. The institution can choose to embrace God's deeper revelations and break down its own walls in preparation for the shaking of its foundation. Or it can build higher walls and large pillars and stubbornly hold onto an instituation that clearly (attendance in denominational churches has been dropping sharply since the 1970's) is in its death throes, and be broken in the upheaval.

This is starting to happen for me in a very personal way - my community is starting to be shaken in a very real and sometimes startling way. The cracks are starting to show in our walls and in our pillars, and the question remains - what will we do about it?

If These are the Pillars of the church, Its Time to Knock the House Down

Pillar: A tall cylindrical vertical upright and used to support a building or other structure.

In religious terms, the word 'pillar' is often used to describe a person within the organization ("the church") who has been in the "church" for a particularly long time and/or is a staunch supporter of the ideals of the congregation. Pillars usually enjoy a fair amount of influence, especially when it comes to the politics behind that generally define the denominational church's inner workings.

By 'politics' I mean this: In order to have any kind of say in what the typical denominational "church" does, what it stands for or what programs it offers, one must become a "member" of the "church" in order to receive the ability to vote on any of these things. Before one can become a "member" they usually are required to stand in front of the congregation and publicly commit to some kind of "church" creedo or agree to follow certain rules and uphold this or that.

By 'influence' I mean this: A pillar is usually one of these "members" and often has an inordinate ability to get what they want whenever a vote occurs on various issues that occur on a regular basis (i.e. whether or not to spend money on some new-fangled piece of technological wizardry or sell the antediluvian organ that has been gathering dust in the basement for a hundred years.) Another way that a pillar gains influence is by acting as a role model of sorts either by way of other members of the congregation who lift them into that position or by acting themselves as though they have won some kind of "Pentecostal Idol" competition.

Let us not forgot as well that there is power in numbers - a Pillar is rarely alone. It is not uncommon for an entire family to be the "pillars of the church", a scenario typified by the ability of someone to attend any random church event, throw a rock up into the air and have an extremely high probability of hitting someone from said family. This can also extend from family into cliques, and that is where the real fun begins.

A clique is very dangerous to the unity of the body because of the simply fact that a clique implies exclusivity, which is the opposite of inclusivity. If one can assume that inclusivity is necessary in order to have unity, then a clique is an extremely effective of shutting down unity. It goes beyond simply having a group of close friends that you hang out with all the time. I have one of those and it is a great thing. A clique is more like a social club that no one else is allowed to visit. Of course in a congregational setting, you can't really get away with overtly telling people to get lost (at least I certainly hope not), so a church clique does this in more subtle ways. Sure, they'll invite everyone to their prayer gatherings, worship services and dinner parties and maybe they'll even seem friendly for a little while. Until you do something that rubs their religious sensibilities the wrong way like say something controversial or wear too much (or too little) makeup, or have a foible of some kind. Then suddenly you find yourself wandering around in a daze seeing a lot of people's backs. But hey, we have a head office or a diocese to keep in mind - we can't let the inmates start running the asylum now can we?

So we come back to the pillars. As I said before, a pillar is something that we use to hold up a building or a structure. This could also be translated as "organization" or "institution". All of these words imply the putting up of walls, either to keep the bad people OUT of our "church", or perhaps to keep the good people IN?

So here is the question - what is the point of a ministry when revelation is replaced by church programs and submission to God is replaced by politics? How frightened should we be when a pastor's primary concern isn't leading his sheep to the place God has set out for them, but reporting to the organization about why he isn't meeting his goal for church membership and service attendance this month?

A pillar sounds great in theory, and as long as we keep the outside looking tall and strong - maybe slap on a new coat of paint every so often. But what happens when the insides are rotten? Eventually the ugly interior can no longer hide behind a new coat of paint, and the building threatens to topple. While the "faithful" rush to hold it up as if nothing at all were wrong, those who come truly seeking the face of God realize they aren't as safe as they thought they were, and they run for the hills.

What does the Bible tell us we are individuals, standing under the strength of personal virtue? Nothing. "God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. " (Ephesians 2:8-10)

What can we become as equal parts of the body of Christ? Everything. Conquerors. More than conquerors even. "..until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." (Ephesians 4:13-16)

We need to pull down the dividing walls and stop raising people up into pillars. Smash down the little building that is "our church" and let the light of day back in. Then maybe we'd have something worth calling the church.

BTK: Child of God?

By now we all know that Dennis Rader, the congregation president of a lutheran church in Wichita, a man who has been described as "devoutly Christian", is also the BTK (an acronym that stands for his preferred modus operandi: Bind, Torture and Kill) Killer. A few days ago, Rader pleaded guilty to 10 counts of murder in the first degree and calmly described the horrible acts that ended the lives of 10 unsuspecting and seemingly random victims. All this, by Rader's admission, was done to satisfy his "sexual fantasies", whatever that means.

The natural response to hearing this kind of news (certainly it was my first response and I'm not sure that I don't still feel the same way) is to despise this obviously sick and disturbed individual as some kind of inhuman monster who has coated the eternal slip n' slide to hell with the blood of his victims.

But how to we reconcile this with the idea that he was an active member of the church and still professes to being a Christian? The other members of his congregation must be going through agony right now, grappling with this question. He has been visited, as well, by his Pastor who said he would not turn his back on Dennis, no matter his crimes and that he would continue to support him as a brother in Christ, while also fully supported the actions of authorities on the case. The pastor also said something to the effect of "nobody is really that much different than Dennis - in the end we're all sinners."

I have to admit that while I can intellectually say with confidence that I am a sinner, in my heart I have trouble putting my own sins in the same category as this brutal serial killer, who routinely killed his victims by tying plastic bags over their heads and letting them suffocate to death.

Pastor Nagle of Wichita had some very interesting things to say:

"..But something amazing happened. Jesus stood outside Lazarus’ tomb and called out his name, and said to the dead man, “Lazarus, come out!” And he did come out. Much to the shock of the sisters, much to the horror of the crowd, much to the amazement of the disciples, much to the delight of Lazarus, Jesus turned everything around and brought the dead back to life.

And here’s a question: if Jesus could and did turn everything around and bring Lazarus of Bethany back to life, do you think Jesus can and will turn everything around and bring life to Dennis Rader, that pillar of the Lutheran Church in Wichita who is charged as a brutal serial killer? "

"..if the charges hold, we have to say that he was a sinner. A really really bad sinner. A sick and savage sinner. And likely, that’s so. But from our childhood, what have we learned in church? What do we sing in our hymns and read in our Bibles? Didn’t Jesus die for sinners? Yes—but (we protest) surely he didn’t die for that kind of sinner! But what does that mean—that we believe Jesus died only for the nice sinners? The little sinners? The clean and undisgusting sinners? It sounds as if what we say we believe and what we really believe are two different things."

Read the full article

It definately makes me think. But hey, apparently Jeffery Dahmer came to Christ before his murder in prison by a fellow inmate. Who knows, maybe Dennis Rader can be redeemed too.

I think Rader's pastor summed it up best when he said "If Dennis has done what they've alleged he did, then he must pay the price. It still does not have any effect on how I minister to him, I still will love him."

The devil Loves (to eat) Your Children

"Teach your children to choose the right path, and when they are older, they will remain upon it." Proverbs 22:6 (NLT)

Although the scripture above is several thousand years old, it is perhaps even more applicable today that it was back in the day. I talk a lot about the world system because I have come to realize that it is an extremely cunning and sinister system of control and degradation that seeks to subtly destroy people. It is a conspiracy in the truest sense of the word, started right from day 1 by that old serpent back in the garden, and has continued to flourish in bigger and deeper ways to the point where these days even the strongest of Christ's disciples have trouble distinguishing God's ways from the world's ways.

While in White Rock over the weekend I was talking to Joan (Lisa's dad's girlfriend), who is a kindergarten teacher. She was telling us how things have changed over the past few years in the way that children are being taught.

I remember when kindergarten (and most of the early grades, for that matter) was all about learning how to interact socially, learn how to be creative and get kind of geared up to start learning. It is a very important stage in a child's life and social training is extremely important. I don't think I could read to any great degree, or do times tables until grade 2 sometime (actually I couldn't do those until about grade 6, but whatever), which seems about the right time to really start learning academically in a really serious way.

According to Joan the curriculum has been seriously changed over the past few years and even at the kindergarten level is VERY centred on literacy and numeracy, to the point now where there is no time for social interaction or playing. 5 year old children are now experiencing failure because, as Joan says and I agree with, the majority of children just don't have the mental development at that age to properly absorb the material. Some do and a lot do not - it has nothing to do with the child's intelligent, they simply aren't ready for that yet - and honestly why should they be?

Joan made the interesting comment that it is switch to a more Asian way of doing things. Interesting to note seeing as there are almost more Asian people in Vancouver now than any other ethinicity (including caucasian). Not that I would use a stereotype when dealing with individual people, but taking a look at cultural stereotypes can give a clue about cultural trends. It seems to me that Asian family life in general often characterized by a very unabalanced combination of diminutive, quiet and subservient women who are dominated and in some cases abused by wealthy and ruthless husbands.

This is just one symptom of a society that seems to value business and productivity over ethics and relationships and obviously teaches that to their children very early in life. When a young child's social development is put aside in favour of numbers and grades, what kind of adults are likely to grow out of that? It makes me wonder what kind of leaders we might have in twenty or thirty years.

Its not enough that children are bombarded with terrible messages coming from TV shows, movies, video games and the internet - now the very underpinings of their early education and development are being used against them. More than ever, parents must take an increasingly active and resonsible role in raising children, because if the parents won't do it there is a little red man with horns, hooves and pitchfork tail who is more than happy to teach them everything they need to know . . .

Apparently ..

This is a pretty good survey being done by MIT. Not sure exactly what they are trying to accomplish but anything that gets more exposure for blogging is a good thing. If you are a fellow blogger, click on the button and go take the survey yourself.

What is YOUR Theological Worldview?

So following along with my good pals Ron at The Weary Pilgrim and Casey over at Jacob's Generation , I decided to do this little quiz and find out what kind of Christian I am. I found the results to be pretty darned interesting actually...

You scored as Emergent/Postmodern. You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this.

Emergent/Postmodern 86% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 82% Reformed Evangelical 54% Fundamentalist 50% Neo orthodox 39% Charismatic/Pentecostal 32% Modern Liberal 29% Classical Liberal 25% Roman Catholic 7% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

Breaking the Two Century Milestone

For the past year and a bit I have been on a continuous quest to get healthier and rid myself of the stigma of diabetes. Because of my skepticism about the western medical system I have also gone out of my way to prove all of their "facts" about problems like diabetes wrong, and for the most part I have succeeded.

When I originally went to Dr. Forester he basically told me I would be stuck on medication for the rest of my life - a few quotes:

"You're not going to get out of this with some kind of special cook book, you know."

(After my refusal to take medication immediately) "This can have serious repercussions on your driver's license. If you were older I might feel obliged to report to the MVB that you were not controlling your blood sugar."

ME: "So is it type 1 or type 2?"
DR F: "Umm... I'd call it... type 1."
ME: "Even though I don't have any symptoms?"
DR F: "Well.. there are some who might call it type 2".
(For those who don't know, Types 1 and 2 are completely different disorders that share similar symptoms, although in all cases of type 1 the symptoms are acute and would result in death if not treated immediately with insulin injections. After diagnosing with Type 1 the Dr proceeded to prescribe metformin, which is a Type 2 medication and wouldn't do anything for type 1 except make it worse more than likely).

I wrestled for a long while about whether to take medication or not, but when I read this verse I knew what I needed to do :

"This is what the LORD says: Yours is an incurable bruise, a terrible wound. There is no one to help you or bind up your injury. You are beyond the help of any medicine. All your allies have left you and do not care about you anymore. I have wounded you cruelly, as though I were your enemy. For your sins are many, and your guilt is great. Why do you protest your punishment--this wound that has no cure? I have had to punish you because your sins are many and your guilt is great.

"But in that coming day, all who destroy you will be destroyed, and all your enemies will be sent into exile. Those who plunder you will be plundered, and those who attack you will be attacked. I will give you back your health and heal your wounds, says the LORD." Jeremiah 30:12-17


This spoke to me because diabetes is considered an incurable disease, one that I knew resulted in my poor lifestyle. Dr. Nielsen explained to me that often people become diabetic overnight - the body reaches a point where it becomes over-stressed with too much weight and unhealth and just switches into diabetic mode. This prompted me to start thinking that if the body can switch INTO diabetic mode, why couldn't it switch OUT OF diabetic mode?

The major part in my journey to cure myself has been losing weight. Weight is almost always connected to Type 2 diabetes and holistic health resources will say that losing weight is the only known way of curing it.

At my heaviest I was around 280 pounds. No wonder my body couldn't hack it. I have since lost a lot of weight and I have seen my blood sugar reading all return to normal. I feel healthier and better than ever since I can remember.

The other day (Sunday, I believe), I hit a milestone. I stood on the scale and saw the number 199.5 . For the first time in my life since high school I am under 200 pounds.

Praise God!

Book Update!

Part 5 of the Prologue is ready for your reading pleasure - enjoy!

(for those of you who haven't read it in awhile I reccomend starting from the beginning or at least making sure you haven't skipped any parts).

http://sentinelstory.blogspot.com

Scarecrow

I like how Meg over at The Tangled Void sometimes posts song lyrics so I figured I would get in on the act.

I was listening to some older Skillet tunes and came across this song whose words have always resonated with me somehow. It strikes me as being one of the most poignant and vulnerable prayers I think anyone can pray.

************************
SCARECROW

Hanging on a post in my dirty clothes
Try to concentrate on you but I keep forgetting

Safe enough to not let go
Scared enough to not release
Open up to drink the wind
You tear me up when you come in

Take me down, shake me out
Give me a brain so I might know you better

Hanging in the sun
Waiting for the rain
Saw a field catch on fire
I caught myself just watching

Safe enough to not let go
Scared enough to not release
Open up to drink the wind
You tear me up when you come in

Take me down, shake me out
Give me a heart that I might love you better

Hanging on a post just next to yours
I want to curse and spit
I weep aloud at your mercy

Take me down, shake me out
Give me a life that I might serve you better

Take me down, shake me out
Give me a life that I might serve you better.

Controversial Origins

Last night I was watching a news type show on TV that was talking about the big fight going on in Kansas right now over what theory should be taught in school about the origins of life on Earth. There are three primary teachings - Creationism (which seems to also assume the existence of God), Evolution and Intelligent Design (which to me sounds like creationism on a smaller scale. I guess they figured God was too politically incorrect so they aren't stating WHO the intelligence was.)

This of course is not a new debate but it seems that in the case of Kansas they actually at one point had stopped teaching Evolution - at least I think that's how it went down. Evolutionists naturally fought back in an attempt to have their theory of choice taught as it is in most schools these days. So now these creationists and intelligent designists are (or were?) fighting to keep the theory of evolution out of schools.

Is it just me or does this seem really dumb to anyone else? Now I'm not going to pretend to be all ecumenical and "open minded" enough to say "those evolutionists could be right!" because as I'm sure most of you know, I don't believe in evolution. I am an extremely confident creationist because I do know that God exists and that he was behind all of creation.

Having said that, let's be fair about this - we're talking about school here, not "church", so why do all the Christians feel that teaching evolution is wrong? Its like we're so insecure and worried about REAL scientists knocking holes in our beliefs that we don't want anyone to know about the other theories out there. And the thing is, all three ideas ARE just that- theories. No one has ever been able to prove anything about where we come from. I believe in creation because I believe in God - it is a faith issue, not a science issue. I also happen to believe that science and the various laws of probability DO support the idea of creation, but I recognize that there is room in there for other theories.

Its not like the evolutionists are all a bunch of ignorant, lying snake-oil salesmen - they believe in evolution every bit as much as I believe in creation. But what happens when we fight about it? People become polarized - they pick a side and then just stick to it out of principle. People who might normally seek the truth instead become defenders of this theory or that theory.

To all you creationists out there who want to ban education on the theory of evolution or intelligent design - WHAT ARE YOU SO AFRAID OF!!?? Do you REALLY believe, or do you just THINK you believe? I believe in the power of the truth and I believe that a real truth seeker WILL find what he seeks, because God promised that. So don't be afraid of evolution and science and all the rest of it.

How about we start teaching all the theories and let everyone come to their own conclusions?

Our Goldfish, the PC Killer

Yeah so we finally broke down and ordered a new computer from Dell. This is in response to our previous computer finally having a mental breakdown and committing suicide.

I say "suicide", however it is clear that foul play on the part of our fish was involved. I will now recount the horrific story as I recall it:

It was tuesday - yesterday. I returned home from work to find that the fish seemed hungry, so I decided to feed him. I successfully dropped some fish flakes into the tank, and then reached for the fish pellets (as I am told fish should be fed a variety of foods) with no idea of the horror that was about to begin. I dropped a few pellets into the tank and closed the lid. It was then, that hell and hades opened figuratively beneath my feet, engulfing me in flames so fierce I thought I might not make it.

Yes, that's right, I dropped the bag of pellets. They spilled from the bag, creating a pile of pellets on the carpet directly in front of and below the fish tank. I knew something had to be done immediately, so I rushed into the kitchen and grabbed the vaccuum cleaner. Rushing back into the office I proceeded to plug the vaccuum in and stepped on the on switch. At that very moment, time and space seemed suddenly to freeze as if the very rotation of the universe had been stopped inexorably by an invisible and yet omnipotent hand. The vaccuum did not turn on.. and furthermore, the computer (which heretofore had been left running almost constantly) had lost its power. I had tripped a breaker.

I ran down into the dungeon.. er basement, fighting against the cold drafts and damp cement that clawed at my skin like a drooling beast, hungry for all the warmth in my body. I reach the breakers without injury and found the errant switch, which I proceeded to reset. The sudden and yet unmistakable whine of the vaccuum echoed eerily from above.

I vaulted back upstairs and vaccuumed up the fish pellets, then turned off the vaccuum cleaner and turned my attention to the computer. Its power remained off, so I turned it back on and left it for a few minutes while it performed the inevitable dance called "Scandisk". After a few moments I returned, prepared to check my email only to find the screen completely blank except for a blinking cursor in the upper left hand corner.

I had seen this before - 3 times before the computer had died so, and each time I had resuscitated it by reinstalling the operating system overtop of the current configuration. So I did this. With baited breath I restarted the computer after completing the reinstallation.. and a blinking cursor stared back at me from the upper left corner of the screen.

It was then I knew that there was no going back for our wounded computer. I had been too slow, and the computer's soul had entered its final resting place.

I looked over at the fishtank and there was the fish, staring at me, unblinking, mouth opening and closing as if mocking my misfortune. That is when I knew my fish was a PC Killer.

The Dog who Itched too Much

That would be our dog, Baron. As previously posted, we took him to the vet about a month ago because of a large hot spot (hair had been licked/bitten off) on his side and also at the time he had been pooping and peeing without seeming to have control over himself. At the time the vet had treated his stomach problems which are now fine, but the itching will not stop.

I feel really bad he has been wearing a buster collar for over a month now, when we aren't watching him, because everytime we leave him alone he starts eating himself! We finally took him to the vet today expecting to discover that he has flears or something, and our groomer also said his ears are infected. Fleas are easy and relatively inexpensive to treat and would have been the best scenario. Instead the vet says that he doesn't seem fleas but is obviously an extremely itchy dog.

So, she reccomends doing a skin scrape to rule out mites, which are the easiest and least expensive possible cause of the problem. She also prescribes antibiotic. So after the scrape and the antibiotics our vet bill today ended up at about $125. And lo and behold, he doesn't have mites apparently, which means that we now have to move into the next level of investigation, including a biopsy and possible blood work. Added up we come to just about $500. For an 11 year old dog. I think we're gong to try some natural remedies first and hope the anti-biotics help.

Unfortunately we left the dog unattended without his buster collar as not only is the patch on his side much larger and worse, but he has created a bunch of new spots all up and down his front leg that he has done a great job chewing on. One of them was actually quite bloody and the rest are new. All I can say is that it is extremely frustrating and disheartening.

Anyway, I prayed over the dog and "laid hands" on him.. I told God that Baron is his creature and God promised to take care of the smallest of his creations. We can't afford $500 in vet treatments at this point so something else is going to have to be done. If you think of it, would you pray for my dog too? He's a really good boy who deserves better.

Well that's enough out of me - later.

Does writing about evil make me the Devil?

A month or so ago, my friend Gwen (yes, the same one who is thankfully still attached to Russ at the hip!) emailed me a question that really hit home for me. We had been talking about the fact that she and I and my best friend Rich are all kindred spirits of the dorky variety (i.e. we love Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, etc) when Gwen asked me (being, as she implied, a fairly "experienced" Christian), what I thought about fantasy and science fiction from a spiritual perspective. As I had been pondering that very question at that time, this naturally led to a lengthy rant by yours truly, which I have now doctored up slightly (so that it reads more like a post and less like an email to someone) and reproduced for you reading pleasure.

---

I didn't really come into my own in (in terms of my walk with Christ) until I was around 14 or so, but I have always had the belief. I have also had my struggles on the issue of the "Good" and "Evil" inherent in things like fantasy and science-fiction as well as other art forms, specifically music and TV/Movies, etc, etc..

For a long while I really wasn't overly concerned about this, especially in terms of music which has been a big part of my life for a long time. As some of you may have noticed I listen to fairly heavy music and have done so since I was 17 or 18 - I really didn't censor it too much unless it was really blatantly gross or Satanic (i.e. Marilyn Manson), but because I pretty well hated Christian music and loved Industrial/Metal style stuff I got into a lot of Nine Inch Nails and things of that nature. I really had no interest in thinking about whether I should be listening to this or that because I just wanted music I could enjoy regardless of anything else.

It was probably a year or two ago that I really got turned onto Christian music in the vein that I
listen to and started listening to bands like Skillet, Thousand Foot Krutch, Massivivid, etc and realized that music is so much cooler when you connect to it spiritually. Since then I have been very careful about the music I listen to and have realized that there is a huge potential for evil
things to creep in through music and art in general.

Have said all of that - specifically speaking into the fantasy and sci-fi vein of things, I think there is definately a huge potential for both Good and Evil to be glorified through fiction, but I don't feel this is an inherent thing in the genre - rather to me is all dependent on the intentions and spiritual approach of the author.

To take C.S. Lewis for example - The Chronicles of Narnia were extremely allegorical of his Christian Faith and yet you can read it with or without that aspect and still enjoy the story as simply a fantasy story. Even for a non-Christian who reads it just for enjoyment, the spirit of the story will still have an impact because that was what the author intended.

Another example is The Lord of the Rings - to hear it from the author, his intention in writing it
was simply and purely to write a damn good story - he detested "allegory" in all of its forms and wanted to write something that was left up to the interpretation of the reader. Having said that - Tolkien was also a devout (believing) Catholic Christian and that aspect of his personality naturally comes out in his writing. So while he wasn't intentionally trying to "preach" through his books, his worldview and beliefs are in there.

I think this can definately be true of non-Christian writers as well - I've read a lot of "secular" fantasy and Sci-Fi that I have absolutely no problem with.. the author didn't have a purposefully anti-Christian agenda and their worldview and beliefs, while not necessarily Christian are also
not "Satanic" or whatever. One aspect of fantasy that I have always found problematic is the concept of "magic", which is always present but takes on many different forms and has different explanations depending on who is writing the story. I am always careful about any book that glorifies the use of the occult for power - this I have a problem with because intentional or not, the author is basically promoting witchcraft.

In this there is also a huge difference between pure fantasy (as in fantasy based in a completely fictional world with completely fictional spiritual dynamics, etc - i.e. LOTR) and fantasy based in the real world (i.e. Harry Potter). I have always had a huge check in myself about Harry Potter because it is not exactly a fantasy story - it is in fact a story about a boy from OUR world
(meaning that OUR God exists here, and our Devil) who is the hero because of his powers as a Wizard. This is not only promoting the occult and witchcraft on a fantastical/conceptual level, but is DIRECTLY promoting witchcraft and the occult in the REAL world.

While pure fantasy in this vein might encourage a child to want to be a great fantasical wizard in a fantasy world (which is not really a good thing, but is also not real or possible), a series like Harry Potter makes little boys and little girls want to actually BE witches and warlocks in OUR world (which is entirely possible and readily available if you know where to look - like your local family book store).

So basically I avoid occultic fantasy in general and real-world based occultic fantasy like the plague. There are tons of good books out there that take the occult out of magic, which I appreciate - Tolkien did this. If you read LOTR and really pay attention to what "Magic" is, there is no mention of occultic power used by the heroes - in fact none of the human
characters or heroes use what can be considered to be "magic". There are Elves, who are thought to be magical and use magic, however the Elven magic is actually an innate characteristic of their nature and is offered up to Illuvatar (God) as worship. Take away Elves and the only "Magic" in that book comes from the dark powers (Sauron) and the Wizards (Gandalf and Saruman). Tolkien's Wizards are often misunderstood as being human beings
with magical powers when in fact they are closer to what we would call angels. As such their "magic" is also infused into the nature of what they are and for what purpose they were created. When Saruman turns to sorcery this is depicted by machines and fires and artificial power destroying and perverting the natural order. This arrangment, of course, was all intentional, not because Tolkien was writing a Christian story but because he was a Christian writing a story.

I've read books where this comes out in the other way - one in specific that I can recall included a journey by the main character at the end of which he runs into a secret society of Elves, whom the book had setup as wise and sagelike people whose job it was to guide the main character to
the right way of doing things. At one point this character sees a painting depicting a meeting of "the gods" in which all of the Gods are portrayed as beams of light. When he questions one of the very wise elvish types about this, the response is "What did you expect the Gods to look like -
yourself? Only a fool believes that he is made in the image of god." As soon as I read that I felt that "slimed" feeling like I've just been party to something spiritually underhanded. The remark just seemed so specifically aimed at Christians and I couldn't get that out of my mind.
I just honestly had the feeling afterwards that the book was just no good, so I got rid of it and felt much better.

I think in the end it requires a lot of discernment to decide what is okay and what isn't - in my mind it is all about the author's intentions and their worldview and beliefs. The genre itself can be used in a very Godly way, or it can (as is usual) be used for something else. I myself have
been writing a very long fantasy story (see "The Chronicle of the Sentinels" under my links if you don't know what I am talking about) that I have intended to contain Christian allegory while being completely removed from the real world. There is "magic" involved, but I am writing this to behave (in an embellished way) the way it does in real life. Basically there are "Saints" who follow the true God and are granted certain powers by that God. These powers are always dispensed by the God of their world and are not contained in the person. Alternately there are evildoers who have access to supernatural powers by way of demonic entities and what we would call the occult. In this way I am trying to make a distinction between what the good and bad guys are drawing upon.. the bad guys use "magic", which is self-serving and evil, while the good guys call upon their power and authority from God and use it for God's purposes. In a way my story is almost like a more adult oriented Chronicles of Narnia - imagine C.S.
Lewis' theme done with a Tolkien-esque skin.

So, to summarize - I believe whole-heartedly that God can used ANY artform for his glory, and that the Devil can take that artform and corrupt into something else. I also believe that what is acceptable for some to read or watch or whatever may be different for someone else. While one person may be able to read Harry Potter without be affected negatively by it, I believe that children and anyone with an unhealthy fascination in the occult should definately stay away.

I am definately tired of fundamentalist types labelling anything that contains characterizations of evil or the occult or the devil as being "Of the devil". And there's a lot of people like that who will look at LOTR and say "Oh look how ugly that thing is! Look that man is a sorceror! This movie (or book) must be evil!". By that logic the Bible would be the most satanic writing in human history. The devil is real, and his tricks are real - portraying these realities is not wrong as long as we don't start to confuse evil with good and make the bad guys the good guys or the good guys good because they are in fact so bad. There is a difference between depicting evil and glorifying it!

Anyway that's enough outta me. Peace out.

Another Story Update

I really do apologize for having posted nothing in here for awhile. I have been completely preoccupied with getting my prologue finished. Speaking of which - I've posted the next segment at http://sentinelstory.blogspot.com

Hopefully now I can devote some brain power to posting some more of my deep thoughts around here!

Excuses, excuses

Looks like I haven't really posted in awhile.. I do have some stuff going on in my head that I will post eventually, but my first priority is getting my prologue finished at the other blog (http://sentinelstory.blogspot.com).

I am getting close to posting another segment, and there should one more segment after that. Then I will start unloading some of the random gibberish in my noggin here. Are you all excited? Mmmkay.

Story Update

The next segment has been posted!

http://sentinelstory.blogspot.com

2 Years! Can you Believe it? I almost can!

Yup, yup, yup.. me and the Lisanator have official made the 2 year mark. Well, I should qualify that - in about an hour or so we will have made the 2 hour mark, as our wedding started at about 11 am and I would guess the knot was officially tied about 30 minutes in. (Oh God I hope I got the time right.. oh well if not, that's what the EDIT button is for, right?).

I can't say that it has been a particularly easy 2 years, nor can I say that it has always been a pleasant journey, as Lisa and I have, shall we say, conflicting personalities. However, I can say with certainty and assurance that it has been an entirely worthwhile endeavour, and one that has made me quite a different person in many ways.

Let us recap the last 2 years in brief:

April 5, 2003: Well, we got married. High Jinks Ensued. Oh did I mention that neither of us had a job?

April 14, 2003: I started working at West Corp. To start with it ws the best paying job I'd ever had. Which is sad because it was like $9.00 an hour to start. However, as Lisa once predicted from a dream she had, the job has opened doors for me.

May or June something 2003: Lisa started working for Dr. Laidley. While there have been some definate ups and downs for her, I certainly feel this was a blessing and also a daily lesson for the both of us. 3 or 4 years from now, when Lisa is an RMT, I'm sure we'll both agree this job was largely responsible for her inspiration to actually do it.

August 21 2003: Lisa organized a killer surprise birthday party for me at the Keg, with like 3 million people. It was awesome. I don't think we even paid for that prime rib.. MMMMmmmmm.

August 25 2003: I was promoted to "Performance Assessment Specialist" at West Corp. This has been a truly great job for me and I have excelled at it, thanks to the good lord!

(Oh lord this is taking too long - let's skip ahead a bit)

December 25 2003: Our first Christmas together. I think this was the year I got the "I live with fear everday, but sometimes she lets me play golf" T-Shirt from Fear's.. er I mean Lisa's Dad. Actually maybe that was the year before.

February/March 2004: Doctor Shit-Head diagnoses me with Type 2 Diabetes. Turns out all this time I thought I was just "husky", I was actually quite obese. The photographic record also supports this hypothesis.

March 2004: I fling dung at Dr. El-Stupido-Retardo and opt out of taking deathly diabetes medication. Cynicism about the Western Medical system sets in. Flying in the face of modern medical treatments, I set out to get better, instead of worse. I stop eating sugar and refined carbohydrates and not excercising and start eating vegetables, natural foods, walking and working out regularly.

Juneish 2004: I'm well on my way to getting better.. lost a lot of weight.. blood sugar starting to return to normal levels. I jog for the first time. This is a big day.

Julyish 2004: I am jogging on a regular basis, continuing to lose weight and get better.

August 21 2004: Lisa holds another killer surprise birthday party with a ton of people, outdoors at Elk Lake. Unexpected torrential rains kill most of the party guests, but on the upside I got to see a killer magic show by Kernel Popcorn!

September - October 2004: We move into our current residence and adopt our 11 year old German Shepherd, Baron. I have my first hemoglobin A1C test since I was first diagnosed. The test comes back well within normal range. Yay! Eat that, Dr. Shitface! Oh and thanks to our new doctor, Dr. Gary Nielsen for being a stand-up dude and helping me through all of this!

Now flash forward to today. I'm a totally different person. I've lost a total of 80 pounds, am regularly active and just better. Sure I've got emotional problems, but hell, these days who doesn't??!!

Seriously though, 2 years is a major accomplishment in the marriage arena - most people don't make it this long without a mass-murder/suicide or some kind of gas main explosion. We're on our way!

Love you Lisa! Here's to another 2 years!

More Story!

Part 2 of the prologue has been posted! Check it out at http://sentinelstory.blogspot.com

2 Billion People Can't be Wrong - or Can They?

"You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose the easy way. But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it." Matthew 7:13-14

Apparently Christianity is the largest world religion, with over 2 Billion adherents. Does anybody else find this statistic hard to believe. Certainly the Bible seems to contradict this idea when it says that "only a few ever find [the gateway to life]". I think there is definately a lesson here that needs to be learned.

It has become increasingly apparent to me that there are actually far fewer REAL disciples of Christ than we realize, although to look on the surface it appears as though we are legion. By now, most Christians recognize the fact that no other "religious" group in the world is as widely reviled and disrespected as the Christian Church. Sometimes it seems as though there is some kind of conspiracy out there to discredit and ridicule us.

Fact is there is a very real conspiracy that starts in the spirit by way of the devil and his cronies, and therefore translates into the natural world by way of the popular media and the world system. Let's face it - the devil would love nothing more than to reduce the image of Christianity to an empty, sterile, laughing stock consisting of boring old men, irritating middle-aged ladies and over-the-edge, obsessive young people that must naturally earn the ire of the "thinking" world.

A large part of the devil's strategy, as I see it, is to promote people who declare themselves (and perhaps truly believe themselves to be) real Christians and yet in reality have no clue (or in some cases simply aren't interested) in what it means to be a true Christian.

Some of these are people who could be described as modern-day Pharisees. These are the religious people who love to point out everyone's flaws and call down divine judgement on those they deem to be unrighteous, or talk Bible circles around the unitiated. These are also the kinds of the people that fill large and powerful churches, man the political juggernaut that is the "Religious Right" and wear the titles such as "fundamentalist" as a badge of honour. They're cowardly because they hide behind their knowledge of scripture while judging other people but never seem to realize that those same scriptures apply to their own lives as well.

"The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the Scriptures. So practice and obey whatever they say to you, but don't follow their example. For they don't practice what they teach. They crush you with impossible religious demands and never lift a finger to help ease the burden." Matthew 23:2-4

In other cases we see the devil's tactic in the form of random strangers (usually standing on street corners, often looking unkempt, occasionally drooling) who seem to think it is their mission to tell every stranger that walks by that they are going to hell or screaming slogans like "turn or burn!". These people disgust almost everyone besides themselves and, if given half the chance, are almost sure to inspire most people to swear off anything associated with Christianity.

"How can you think of saying, `Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log from your own eye; then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye." Matthew 7:4-5

Then there are the listless, exhaustingly changeable, adolescent (in age or mentality) youth groupers, who just never seem able to get themselves together. These are not to be confused with the actually sincere teenaged youth groupers who really are working for the kingdom, because I definately recognize the hard work and honest devotion of these (particularly in my church - our youth and young adults are pretty amazing for the most part). The people I'm talking about are the ones who have an obvious habit of making completely backwards lifestyle choices and are known by pretty well everyone for being completely unreliable. Most of these showed up to Church once or twice and had some kind of emotional "experience" where they became saved. After that they disappear for awhile and are occasionally spotted downtown, drunk or stoned or some other variant of these and show up for church every few months to wave their hands in the air and have another emotionally charged "experience". I find nothing terribly real about this kind of faith because there is absolutely no fruit.

"You can detect them by the way they act, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit. You don't pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles. A healthy tree produces good fruit, and an unhealthy tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, the way to identify a tree or a person is by the kind of fruit that is produced." Matthew 7:16-20

Then there are those who seem to think that Christianity is a membership in some kind of religious social club, with a bouncer at the door prepared to weed out the undesirables and make sure that the club stays members-only. This type of "Christian" often looks extremely devoted on the outside as they flit from church to home-group to alpha meeting to men's breakfast to choir practice. But put them in a room with a non-Christian, especially one who is rough around the edges, and they don't have a clue what to do. They've never had time for anybody outside of their circle, so of course they are completely unprepared for this type of situation.

Some of my best memories revolve around hanging out with a bunch of neo-pagan/wiccan/you name it's who had nothing but derision for Christians before they met me. They were my most regular friends for awhile and were always reliable and true and desperately in need of the truth. I feel sorry for "Christians" who have no time for unbelievers because they'll never feel the reward that comes with leading someone to the kingdom.

"The Pharisees were indignant. "Why does your teacher eat with such scum?" they asked his disciples.
When he heard this, Jesus replied, "Healthy people don't need a doctor--sick people do." Then he added, "Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: `I want you to be merciful; I don't want your sacrifices.' For I have come to call sinners, not those who think they are already good enough." Matthew 9:11-13

The final group I am going to mention is probably also the largest. These are the ones who think that Christianity is a birthright or habit. I've talked to people who say they are Christians because they go to church, or because they were born into a Christian family, or because they do good deeds. There are people who think they are Christians because they were born in North America and go to church on Christmas and Easter. Or people who think that because they believe in some kind of vaguely defined god, or pray regularly or went to sunday school, or hold Bible studies in their home that this makes them a Christian. But they are lacking that essential component - that relationship with their creator, and they in turn mislead others.

"Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as `Lord,' but they still won't enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven. On judgment day many will tell me, `Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.' But I will reply, `I never knew you. Go away; the things you did were unauthorized.'" Matthew 7:21-23

So subtract all the fakers and those 2 Billion "Christians" very quickly start to look like a whole lot less. Its an insidious plot on the part of the devil, but also a very effective one - I know I have been guilty of more than one of the things I have described above. Everyone has done one of these things at some point in their walk with Christ. Thankfully all of these things can be put down and left behind, if only we will look outside of what we "know" and seek the truth instead.

In the end it all comes down to this:

"And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. So whoever has God's Son has life; whoever does not have his Son does not have life." 1 John 5:11-12

Story Time!

I've created a new blog in which I plan to publish, in serial format, my long awaited fantasy story.

Please check it out and leave tons of comments! http://sentinelstory.blogspot.com

The Problem with Pharisees

"Beware of these teachers of religious law! For they love to parade in flowing robes and to have everyone bow to them as they walk in the marketplaces. And how they love the seats of honor in the synagogues and at banquets. But they shamelessly cheat widows out of their property, and then, to cover up the kind of people they really are, they make long prayers in public. Because of this, their punishment will be the greater." Luke 20:46-47

I've been noticing a disturbing trend lately, among Christians, especially those belonging to the 'Fundamentalist' persuasion. We've become stodgy and set in our ways and so concerned with appearing righteous that the really important things that Christ came to teach us are being lost. In essence we've become Pharisees.

Where I think this really comes out is in the selective Christianity that most people practice. This is the version of Christianity where we get to pick two or three things that really chafe us, and then form religious armies to mobilize and basically do everything possible to break the offenders down and do away with them. This is especially abhorant to me when it enters the political arena and we start electing presidents and prime ministers based on their support or opposition to our two "Biblical" issues.

What we love to ignore is the fact that gays and abortion are not the two most important issues talked about in the Bible. In fact, I don't know that I've ever seen anything in the Bible that mentions abortion, and while homosexuality (in practice, not in temptation) is definately a sin, it also isn't mentioned more than a handful of times. The fact is that Jesus spent more time talking about money and the abuse of money than about any other subject. Jesus taught far more about social justice - taking care of widows, orphans and the poor, than he ever did about the evils of homosexuality and abortion.

And yet, we Christians in our wisdom have decided that rallying against same-sex marriage and picketing abortion clinics are the only things that really matter to God. Forget fighting for economic reform, social justice or the stewardship of the environment, those aren't matters for real Christians but for hippies and democrats.

Well God does not allow, anywhere in the scriptures, for us to be selective about our faith. If we are going to mobilize 1000 people to protest same-sex marriage, we had better already have mobilized 10,000 people to feed the hungry and build homes for the homeless, because those are the issues that God cares about - more than anything else he loves his people. Our greatest command is to love one another, not to persecute sinners.

The fact is, Christians no longer have any credibility because the world only sees us calling people down and rebuking their sins, but not caring for them or loving them. If as many Christians would unite in the name of social justice, the environment and the care and provision for the needy, the world would listen to us when we correct it its wrongdoings.

But instead we practice selective Christianity, and the most important parts of Jesus' message are lost to the world.

"How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest part of your income, but you ignore the important things of the law--justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but you should not leave undone the more important things." Matthew 23:23

Saint - 1, Icy Fingers of Death - 0

Yes, that's right, I have won the heating war and sent the Icy Fingers of Death back to its home in the spare bedroom.. and sometimes the bathroom.

Those portable baseboard heaters that we bought from Canadian Tire really came through for us and for the second morning in a row I was able to hop out of bed and not fear the icy grip of subzero temperatures calling to me from under the carpet. Its so good we actually had to turn the heat DOWN last night.

I'm debating whether or not we should take one of the heaters back because so far we haven't really needed to use it, but I bet I'll be kicking myself come next November so maybe we'll keep them both. The nice thing is they should be much cheaper to use than the oil furnace - the calculator at BCHydro.com said it would cost about $65 a month to run one heater 24 hours a day. That certainly beats the $150-$250 we've been spending for a month's worth of heating oil. Of course that may be due to the outrageous price of gas at the moment (just saw the 96.9 price tag and thought I was going to have a coronary). Heating oil is close to the same price, which is about double what it apparently cost a year or so ago.

To further aid in our battle against the cold, we picked up a heat conservation kit that has window covers and special plates for electrical outlets and light switches that are supposed to cut down on drafts.. which would be nice as our place seems to be more draft than house.

Well that's one battle won.. onto the next!

The Baron's New Clothes

It seems that our dog's little skin condition got a whole lot worse while we were at work. In fact we came home to discover a patch more than twice as large as when we left.. I don't know exactly what has been causing that dog to scratch and bite like that, but I'm thinking it may be a combination of things - the moving back and forth, first to mom's house and now back to our house, as well as being in a cold, cold house and the fact that he apparently has been in some fairly major abdominal discomfort.

We decided we were going to just wash the "hot spot" (as they call those hairless patches that dogs make on themselves) and just keep an eye on him, but then a few strange things happened. Firstly, we decided to take him with us to Canadian Tire (to get our new heaters), and whilst getting into the car the poor dog pooped (like diarhea) a little bit in the car. He's never done anything like that before but it was like he just lost all control. Then, after our trip to Canadian Tire we took him to Petcetera to look at something to keep him from further injuring the spot.. and he pees on the floor - twice! Very weird. At the same time he was putting out the most egregious gas I think I have ever experienced - it made me actually squint my eyes and cry a little bit.

It was then we decided we'd better get him to a vet.. he just seemed not like himself. After much deliberation we broke down and took him to the emergency vet hospital downtown and got him checked out. The vet discovered that Baron had some really nasty "gut" stuff going on - he was very gassy and he suspects Baron may have a parasite of some sort. There wasn't anything to specifically explain the hot spot, but at least there was no evidence of fleas. So the prognosis is that we have to feed Baron some special food for a few days and give him 2 different kinds of medication - one in pill form that we can hide in his food, and one that we have to use a syringe to squirt down his throat (he loved that one, I might add). I also should mention that Baron absolutely loved having a thermometer up his butt.

In order to prevent Baron from further injuring the hot spot, we had to get him some new clothes. Specifically this stylish collar and this makeshift sock-boot we made for him out of one of my socks and a whole lot of "vet wrap", which is supposed to help prevent him from scratching himself silly.

Needless to say, the poor dog is having a very rough time getting around the house. He pretty much catches the collar on every and has to do a little dance in order to get unstuck. Apparently it messes up his peripheral vision as well, as evidenced by the fact that when I let him outside to pee he has no idea where he is and heads straight for the road.

All this for only $180! ..Its okay.. God will provide! Right? I mean he told us he would! Okay, God - start providing!

For some good news, check back later.

Ruder Awakening

So we actually spent our first night back home last night.. and as the title suggests, it was actually worse than I imagined. I think we may have chosen pretty well the worst time to move back into our icy dungeon as the temperature dropped to like 1 degree last night. I also hear there is a possibility of snow on the horizon. Not what I want to hear. Not at all.

To add insult to injury that oil-fulled radiator we bought is a Grade-A P.O.S. (for those of you who are unfamilar with the acronym, that means Piece of Suckyheatingequipment). We left it on overnight in our bedroom and I knew when I got up this morning and felt the cold fingers of icy death grabbing my feet when I stepped on the floor that a certain oil-filled heater was not living up to our expectations. In the heater's defence, it did a bang-up job of heating up the air in a 6 inch circle directly around itself.

To add schoolyard name calling to the insult that was added to the injury, Baron (our 11 year German Shepherd) appears to have bitten and/or scratched the fur off of a small patch of skin on his right side. I'm guessing its a flea thing.. hopefully it won't require an expensive trip to the vet.

In a further quest to heat our house, we've decided to exchange the oil-filled heater for two portable baseboard heaters.. it'll cost more, but the baseboards are apparently safe to leave on when we aren't there and should heat the house more efficiently. I guess we'll see. Pray for us.. pray that someone doesn't find us in the next few days, huddled in our bed like 2 giant icecubes (a la bugs bunny).

Rude Awakening

So tomorrow, Me and Lisa's stint of housesitting for my mom and co. comes to an end. We will be picking them up from the airport at 11:05pm tomorrow night (actually I just realized its 1:14 am, which means it is actually tonight). By my calculations this puts me and Lisa officially being back in our own place in approximately 23 hours or so.

Originally I was looking forward to getting back to our place in the "country", however I have to admit that I've become rather attached to things like cable TV and heat over the last two weeks. We brought most of our stuff (including the cat) back to the house today in preparation for our arrival and it was then that the realization came crashing down upon me that our place is fricking freezing! Our oil furnace seems to have lost about 3/4 of its fuel efficiency as well as developing a leak at some point - the result is that we ran out of heating oil on the day we came over to my mom's. So basically its really cold. In anticipation of moving back in, we bought a plug-in oil radiator heater from Crappy Tire because we were told by one of their employees that it would be okay to leave it on all the time, even when we aren't there. We thought this would be a great alternative to using the furnace.. until we got the thing home and read a passage in the instruction manual that says "Never leave heater unattended when in use." So much for that plan I guess.

I would almost be tempted to buy another half tank of oil, but since the last half we bought was gone in under one month it just doesn't seem worth it. My kingdom for an electric furnace.. or even baseboard heaters! Somehow I doubt our landlords are gonna spring for that.

Anyway, we prayed for God to heat the house somehow, so I guess we'll see. I'll let all of you (up to three viewers now, I think!) know what happens!

On a slightly different note, I would like to mention how much I appreciate Lisa taking the time to organize my music for worship almost every week! Thanks sweetie pie! Love you!

Lunch Money

Have you ever been faced with a seemingly mundane decision about a seemingly minor detail and made the choice to sacrifice something in favour of someone else(like your spouse), only to discover that in what you thought was an altruistic and selfless act actually ended up inconveniencing said other party?

Yeah that happened to me today when I was getting dressed for work and noticed that my wife (still sleeping) had put a $20 and about $2 in change on the dresser. I thought for a moment that it might be nice to have a $20 on hand but then decided to take the change instead (thinking that it would be nice to buy some coffee cream for work) and left the $20 for my wife in an effort to be selfless and make sure she was taken care of.

A little later I got a phone call from said wife, in a rather grouchy mood, asking for an explanation for why I stole her lunch money. "But I left you the 20!" I said. "That 20 wasn't mine, it was for work!" she replied. She then proceeded to complain about being hungry and having no money to buy lunch as I had also taken the opportunity to "steal" back my debit card that morning.

So I guess I can add "stealing lunch money" to my resume.

Defining a Saint

So what exactly is a Saint anyway?

There are many definitions, but when most think of the word saint images come to mind of the semi-mystical and apparently near-perfect beings canonized by the Roman Catholic church, who are somehow able to step in for God and answer our prayers on his behalf.

Apart from that, the word saint usually denotes a really great person who is incapable of doing any wrong. From this definition we derive common phrases such as "He's no saint", inferring that the person in question is an immoral or somehow "bad" person.

So what is the real definition of the word saint? And what does a person need to do in order to be considered one of these?

First we'll look at the dictionary (or more precisely dictionary.com), which defines 'saint' as:

Abbr. St. or S. Christianity. A person officially recognized, especially by canonization, as being entitled to public veneration and capable of interceding for people on earth.

or

a person who has died and has been declared a saint by canonization 2: person of exceptional holiness [syn: holy man, holy person, angel] 3: model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no equal .

Wikipedia.com (like a dictionary but with more emphasis on cultural relevence) seems to back this up by saying that:

In general, the term Saint refers to someone who is exceptionally virtuous and holy. It can be applied to both the living and the dead and is an acceptable term in most of the world's popular religions. The Saint is held up by the community as an example of how we all should act, and his or her life story is usually recorded for the edification of future generations.

Wow.. those are some large shoes to fill. You may ask "Ryan - how can you dare to call yourself a Saint given the meaning of the word?". Well, rest assured there is more to say on the subject.

I like Wikipedia because it not only gives a definition of things but also goes into detail about where it came from and how it has been used historically. Wikipedia had this to say about the origin of "saint":

The term Saint is derived from the Latin Sanctus meaning “Holy”. This is a direct translation from the Greek word "hagios" also meaning “Holy”. In its original scriptural usage it simply means “Holy” or “Sanctified”. In this form it can be applied to a “Holy” person, a place (The Holy Mountain), a thing, such as Scripture itself (Holy Writing), or even God (The Holy Spirit). But very soon the early Christians began to make the distinction of using the term “Saint” to refer to a specific, exemplary individual.

Aha! So it was not originally used in the Roman Catholic context but was adapted from the real scriptural definition, apparently used frequently by the Apostle Paul. I definately like what Wikipedia goes on to say about "Christianity in General":

In many Protestant churches, the word is used more generally to refer to anyone who is a Christian. This is similar in usage to St. Paul's numerous references. In this sense, anyone who is within the Body of Christ is “Holy” because of their relationship with Jesus.

Similarly, Dictionary.com states something similar in the bottom parts of the its definition:

one separated from the world and consecrated to God; one holy by profession andby covenant; a believer in Christ

So the truth comes out. From putting all of this together it seems that the word "saint" was used frequently by Paul and that the Protestant interpretation of the word is the closest we have to the actual scriptural meaning. I wanted to find at least one or two actual Bible passages to back this up, so I did a search at Biblegateway.com for "saint". I used the King James Version as I figured it was the most likely to actually contain the word "saint" and found this passage, that I think sums up perfectly what a saint is:

Philippians 4:21
21Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren which are with me greet you.

"Salute EVERY saint in Christ Jesus" .. is that perfect or what?

Conclusions: Everyone who is with Christ is a saint. The godlike figures popularized by the Roman Catholic church were just ordinary, sinful, imperfect people, just like me and just like you - they deserve the title "Saint" inasmuch as they are with Jesus Christ and for no other reason. Being a Saint doesn't mean being perfect - in fact it doesn't really mean we have to be particularly "good" people.. it just means that we have accepted the gift of our Creator and become his children and his servants.

While writing fantasy stories I have envisioned armies of ordinary and yet extraordinary Saints, all fighting, however imperfectly, in the name of their God - all possessed of gifts that no one but God himself can bestow - all following the leadership and guidance of God through his ultimate messenger, Jesus Christ.

Such an army would be unstoppable in any fantasy setting. It would be unstoppable in the real world too.

Version 2.0

So the blog is back. I wish I had waited until after my destructive (electronically speaking) rage had settled down to decide whether I REALLY wanted to kill it. I had a good post in there. I was proud of that post. And now its gone.

So I dunno how much I'll be putting in here or exactly WHAT I'll be putting in here. I shall try to re-create my post about the definition of a Saint as I see it.

Welcome to Version 2.0