Almost Weekly Report

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:13)

I am really only starting to understand what it means for a Father to give good gifts. I think that I understand this, but then something happens in my life to challenge me to question my perception.

I was talking to a friend recently about life and he pointed out some of his experiences with his kids. He gave the example of pulling his boys out of a pool before they got too tired. The boys responded thinking that he was punishing them, that he didn’t want them to have fun. But in reality, he was looking out to their best interest. As a father, his perspective was his boys and their safety. He was guiding them and bringing boundaries that protected them so that they would continue to be able to have fun and enjoy the rest of the day.

He explained that there are times when his boys do things that are inappropriate and wrong. That because they are the age they are the often lack judgment to make certain decisions. However, because he is a father and he loves his kids, this doesn’t change how he thinks of them. He still loves them. Even though they do the things that they aren’t supposed to.

In the context of my life, the phrase kept on coming to mind: “the Father longs to give good gifts.”

That God our heavenly father is able to give good gifts beyond the ability of our earthly father’s. But more than that, I felt my own understanding of what God’s gifts look like being challenged.

I have a dad who loves to give gifts. This doesn’t always look like the good gifts that I want and I don’t always recognize them for what they are. For example, I would love for my dad to pay off my student loan, but he hasn’t done that. On the other hand, while I was in school I took my car in to get fixed. There was a miscommunication, and they misquoted me on the bill and somehow the cost was more than I could afford. I phoned my dad and he paid the bill, without hesitation or question. The fact was that I had made an error in judgment, made a mistake, but he rescued me.

Now, I didn’t recognize that as a gift. Yes, I wanted my car to run properly. But I thought of that as bailing me out. Not as a gift, and rather than being happy and pleased that my father was able to help me and show grace. I was actually mad. Mad that I had messed up. Mad that I had to ask for help. Mad that I wasn’t independent.

But, in reality he gave a good gift.

God is also my Father, My heavenly one. And he also gives good gifts. But I don’t see them for what they are.

I want things like to be 100% debt free. But in reality, I have the resources to pay my bills on time. That is a good gift.

My perception has been challenged once again to consider what a Good Gift looks like. Ephesians 2:8 explains that salvation is a gift of God, given freely to us not by our own doing, by God’s grace.

The reality is that God’s definition of a good gift is a lot different than mine. God’s desire is to give me gifts that bring life and fulfill the desires that he created me to have. God’s definition of a good gift is not material, but immaterial.

The bible says that, “you do not have, because you do not ask.” It explains that when we do ask we are doing so out of a wrong motivation. That we look to fulfill our own passions, not our desires. We ask because we are proud and want to look good to the world. There are so many times that I’m conflicted by my own desires. I’ve been asking God why I they aren’t filled. But I’ve missed one small but significant point: God wants to fulfill our desires.

Instead of asking him if the desire is wrong, and if that is why it isn’t fulfilled. I simply need to ask him. It’s so incredibly simple that I completely missed the point: if my desire is to be free from depression, I simply need to ask that God would free me from my depression. If my desire is for relationship, I simply need to ask for someone to have relationship with. Asking for my desire to be fulfilled is quite vague, non-specific. It’s like asking an earthly father for the world, and of course He would give you a globe.

I have to be honest. I didn’t really think that it was a big deal, and still don’t really think that it’s a big deal. Like, come on… I don’t FEEL any different. Nor do I look any different. It’s not like I have a halo or anything like that.

Of course, that to which I am referring, would be my ordination and the service to which they recognized it. Here is a nice picture for those who were unable to attend.

Now what I’ve since realized is that first off, it may not have been important to me, but it was important to a lot of other people. Which adds to the confusion. Because I mean really, their whole point is that it’s important for Me.

So here’s where I’m at with the whole thing. You can agree or disagree.

If you hadn’t heard or weren’t aware, ordination is merely a recognition of my calling into ministry. If that’s all greek to you. Ordination = people can call me reverend. Calling = God (YAHWEH, The Lord of Heaven and Earth, Jesus) asked, or as it could be argued told, me to leave everything and to follow Him.

So I guess that might explain the whole issue here. Why I think that it’s not a big deal.

You see, if you’ve known me for any length of time, and I mean know me not that surface stuff. You would probably agree that God has plans for my life. I mean really, I’ve been told this and asked this since I was like 2. To quote my father, I’ve been preaching ever since I poked my head out of the womb.

Of course, this all starts to form a picture. Ordination is supposed to be an affirmation of my calling into ministry. Well, that’s been affirmed since I was two. Then on top of it all, we (the denomination and those of a similar theological disposition) all believe in the ‘priesthood of all believers’, which in laymen’s terms means we are all called by God. Thus the paradox. At least the paradox in my brain.

So here’s my official viewpoint. People want to celebrate what they’ve been telling me for years, that I’m called by God. And it’s not so much that they want to celebrate what they’ve been telling me, it’s that they want to celebrate that I’m actually doing it.

Therefore, last sunday night, at our Joint Triport (port hardy, port mcneill and port alice) worship night. We celebrated the fact that I have not only been called by God, but that I answered the call.

It’s been a whirlwind of an adventure over the last month and a half. Now, I know what you are thinking… what about the other 6 months since you last posted. Well, it’s only actually been four. But let’s not get into the preverbal in my head argument.

It all started with a phone call from a friend and church member in the last week of April, for the sake of protecting their identity let’s call them Amanda and Kris. They had been trying to move out of their home (AKA the place that they were renting) since January, but had failed to find anywhere in Port Alice to rent. As an aside, if you are considering investing in a rental property Port Alice might be a good option. They waited a couple months and then through the rumour mill of port alice, they became aware that the house across the road was going up for rent. So they made the arrangements to move in there. The rent was less, the house was more suitable, and they got along great with the landlords. It was all going so well, they had given their one month notice, and then came the Mold.

Now it isn’t too much of a shocker that in Port Alice there is mold in some of the homes. Considering all the factors of our climate and whatnot, it is to be expected. But there is a limit to the level of mold that would be considered livable and for all intent and purposes that level had been exceeded. That brings us back to the phone call that I got.

Amanada was somewhat calm. She figured that there would be something that would come up, but in the worst case they were going to move in with Her mom and a friend. This is where I said, “Well, you can always move into my house and I’ll move into the church.” Amanda thanked me but blew the offer off as an invalid option. That was Monday.

Saturday arrived and I showed up at the town house that was available to rent. Amanda and several others were hard at work scrubbing and scrambling to continue to finish the cleaning and moving out the remainder of items from the previous occupant. Then at about 2-3, we found mold. Once again refer back to the comment about living in Port Alice and the likelihood of mold being in a home here. But this was worse that the previous place, there was a rotten hole in the floor, pieces of the drywall came off the bathroom walls revealing more of this black demoralizing epidemic of a plague.

Exhausted and Exasperated we all sat down on the floor of an un-quarantined room. Amanda looked at me and said: “so does this mean we are moving into your house?” And two days later I was living in the loft of the church. Which I have to admit isn’t that bad of a bachelor pad.

My square footage has increased, I now live on the water, and I now have no reason why I can’t wear fuzzy slippers to work.

However, this has presented some interesting challenges. Like, I’m still trying to figure out how it takes me longer to get to work every morning when I live at my work place? Or now I have to keep my kitchen clean because I share it with 40 other people. I also can’t skulk around in my pj’s on my days off.

But there are some big bonuses. I’ve gone from 2 Bathrooms to 5. I now have internet, and a wood stove in the basement. Both of which are lots of fun.

All and all, my life has presented lots of fun and creative ways to redefine what it means to be a pastor. Living in the church and giving up my home is one of the many.

Well, it’s been a very interesting week. I came down last sunday to the Lower-Mainland for a so called mission’s trip. It’s been on my heart for a while to do something where I go to a distant land and help people. I don’t have a passport, and I don’t have tons of resources, so I got creative and… went to surrey, BC.

This week has surpassed my understanding of time, I feel like I have been down here for either one day or one month. Because I used to live in surrey and know a fair amount of people from the area, it has been incredible just to connect with so many people. I sometimes forget the impact of what I am doing, or more so the impact of what God is doing around me, and meeting with so many people causes me to share the stories of success surrounding the last few months. Seeing people set free from depression, relieved of physical and emotional pain. Knowing that God’s desire is for an intense loving and compassionate relationship with all of us.

I can’t even begin to explain the encouragement it has been to me to be able to share some of the insignificant details (in comparison to the greatness of Jesus) of what has been going on in my life. And that wasn’t even the purpose of coming down to the lower mainland. The purpose was to help people.

The first way that I had wanted to do this was through an organization called Nightshift (www.nighshiftministries.org). I came to surrey with no agenda and as a result I was completely open to helping wherever I was needed. This can often be a precarious situation, because you are likely to end up doing something that you don’t really want to do. But the main task that I felt I needed to do was to pray. So that’s one of the things I did. I spent the week in almost a constant state of prayer. Whether I was driving in traffic, scraping tinting off windows at the new nightshift center, or just literally praying. I have prayed for a long time, but as I continue to pray, it seems as the experience seems to grow and deepen because this was the deepest and most intense experience in all my life’s prayers. I felt God closer to me than I ever have before. It was like I was walking shoulder and shoulder with him, and as I prayed and walked into new and sometimes familiar situations it was like He would stop me and point out what HE saw.

As I prayed I felt that God was hearing my prayers as a conversation, that I was understanding His heart for me and the world around me (or all of us for that matter) in a new way. When I prayed for people, I watched as He ministered through me and penetrated the layers of humanity that surround us all by His Spirit. I came away feeling utterly in awe and with a new understanding of my Almighty Creator God. I still don’t understand why He chose me and wants to use me, I only know that He does.

It didn’t seem to matter where I went this last week, I found that I was speaking God’s truth into the situation around me. And where people were willing there was a profound change. I can’t even begin to explain this, because I don’t even understand it.

I spent time serving on the streets of surrey where I witnessed people being transformed by the power of God acting through people willing to demonstrate His Love. But then I also witnessed crowds of people who had been stripped of the little humanity they had as they gathered together in broad daylight to trade and sell drugs and attempt to find a new high. What a contrast to the love that I felt immersed in all week by my Loving Saviour.

I went to my former College, where I met people eager to see God’s passion birthed in the people around them so that lives can be transformed by the power of Jesus’ humility. I prayed with people and watched as God taught them new things about His character and grace in their lives.

Then in a fitting end, I spent 2 1/2 days at a campus ministry retreat where students from across BC came to share their desire and passion for God to change the world and culture around them. I was moved to tears as I watched a Father worship God with freedom and Joy although he had lost his oldest son (22 Yrs) one month prior in a car accident. I was overcome with emotion as the students began to pray to the indescribable God that they serve. I was moved with pure and utter Joy as I watched these same students begin to praise God with their own words and sing simple songs of love to their Saviour, Creator, and Father.

This week I watched as ‘heaven met earth with a sloppy wet kiss‘ and was moved, overcome, and amazed as I understood a small part of the heart of God.

Well, I never thought I’d say it. But some days I miss my Bronco. As my car begins to show it’s age through some bumps, bruises, aches and groans I have started to ponder the thought of replacement. I struggle between the thought of what I want (2010 GMC Seira – 1/2 Ton 4×4 Hybrid) and what I need (which is closer to what I have 2002 Chev Cavalier).

It has been interesting as I puruse used car sites, craigslist, and read reviews. I have been asked by my dad what I want, but it’s so hard to put my finger on it! Cruise control is a must, Power windows a luxury, A/C necessity; But 4×4 is a non negotiable.

So as my dad has examined his ‘sources’ and I have scoured the internet looking for the potential replacement. I came across a vehicle that can stand up to the challenge! Watch the vid below and see it in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWc_flGRT_o

I have to say… I was wondering what Port Alice would be like when the REAL winter weather started. But I am really enjoying this so far.

I mean, sure it’s a lot of rain. But it’s REAL rail. Not that west coast drizzle. More than that, there is something awesome about looking out my window and seeing SNOW covered mountains that just absolutely warms my heart. Now I will admit we are one month into what the locals consider winter, but so far… I think I can handle this.

Well, it’s official. I am now 26 years old. And what better way to celebrate the passing of another annual occurrence than with the writing of a blog (Especially since those who ACTUALLY read my blog inform me that I need to update it).

When I was 20 if you had of asked me where I had hoped to be when I turned 25, I would have given you a completely different description than to the person that I actually have. That is why I have chosen to reminisce on the person that I thought I would become.

AGE 5: When I was 5 I had my life planned out in complete detail. I wanted to be a carpenter, get married to Valerie Wilson, and have a yellow Car. It was all very simple and had never seemed that far off. For some reason in my mind I held the understanding that I was turning 20 when I was actually turning 6.

AGE 10: In complete and utter denial of my being and state of likeness to that of my Father, I proclaimed to the world (a whole 100 people around me), that I was going to be an architect. I no significant Idea about what this life would look like other than the fact that it would allow me to draw and build houses. At this point in my life I could actually envision living somewhere outside of the town that I had called home for 8 years: Little Current.

AGE 15: I was lost in a world that I felt disconnected with. Wandering around in a state of self discontentment I honestly didn’t care. I thought of the prospect of computer programming, or possibly still architecture… more importantly I just didn’t really want to be around people. And was unsatisfied to be alone caught in my self misery.

AGE 20: In realization that all of my previous attempts to plan out my life hadn’t been even in the right zip code, I established a set of 5 year goals. Nothing too high and lofty, and nothing too low that I shouldn’t be able to accomplish them. Since I was in Bible College, it made sense that I would expect and have the goal of being completed and in a pastorate. I also decided that it would be prudent to have my debts paid off. The high and lofty goals seemed to count for such trivial things like: I want to have a truck AND I want to have the down payment for a house.

AGE 25: realizing that I was failing to meet my previously set 5 year plans, I gave myself an extended deadline and estabished that I would seek to have them met BEFORE I turned 26.

AGE 26: Well, here I am. I have managed to complete one of the goals: I finished Bible College and am a Pastor.

All this being established what does it show? We have a society that is very much focused on preparation and planning for disaster, emergency, crisis, career, family. You name it… you can plan it. But what does this accomplish? Where is the wisdom in it? My life now resembles nothing of what I thought it would become when I was 12, nor did I have any real knowledge about what would be practical when I was 15.

I made the effort to become nothing like my father, and I ended being more like him than I even realize today. I made the effort to go into computers or technology, but that is seemingly a previous life. This all leads me to question the motto of our modern world: “PLAN FOR TOMORROW”. Why? I have no clue what’s going to happen today, why should I plan for tomorrow. I like the biblical answer: “do not worry about tomorrow… but let tomorrow worry about itself” OR “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps. (Proverbs 16:9)”

So here’s to having no plans or ambitions.

No… I’m not getting married. And it doesn’t look like i’m planning on it anytime soon, so don’t get any ideas.

But I went to my friend Jeremy’s wedding a week ago in Powell River. It was good to see him take the dive. I went with my friend Sharon and while we were waiting for the wedding to start, we started talking about “alternative” wedding ceremonies. So for anyone thinking about tying the knot and are in need of some different ideas, here are a few.

Alternative wedding ceremony #1: Tribal
Picture this, you and your spouse to be, with all of your friends and family traveling to Africa for your wedding. It happens at sunset surrounded by beautiful scenery. When the sun goes down, you and your guests all take torches and Light a ‘ceremonial fire’. As the fire begins to grow, the celebration begins… Someone picks up an african drum. The drum beats swell and grow, enticing people to begin to dance around the fire. The celebration is ecstatic and all leading towards the culmination of the ceremony, where you and your future husband/wife enter into a traditional hut to consummate your vows to the shrill cries of your family and friends dancing to the rhythm of the drums.
The entire event erupts as you emerge Husband and Wife. The fire burst into huge flames and the sounds double and triple in volume as the great war of love has been won.

Alternative Wedding Ceremony #2: Traditional, Very Traditional
With the backdrop of stained glass and the sound of the thundering pipe organ. This entire wedding ceremony is performed in Latin! The music is sung by a 150 member chamber choir. Just imagine walking out of the church to the sound of the Hallelujah chorus resonating through the streets in celebration of your new marriage!

Alternative Wedding Ceremony #3: Guess who planned our wedding
Of all the alternative wedding ceremonies this is my favorite! Rather than stressing yourself with the task of organizing and planning your wedding, why not allow someone else to do it for you! No, I’m not talking about an expensive wedding planner. The privilege of planning your wedding goes to the highest bidding family member. That’s right not only would you have a great surprise as to the style of the wedding, but you would also save yourselves from all the stressful family arguments about what your wedding should look like. This wedding literally takes care of itself!

Well… that’s all I have to say about that. But for more fun you can check out another alternative wedding ceremony with a dance theme on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0

Well… apparently I think that I post more often than I actually do. I thought that I had posted at least 2 weeks ago, but it was the first week in July.

So… here’s where I am right now. I’m on a ‘little’ island called manitoulin. I know that probably everyone already knows this because I like to advertise the fact. But anyways… I finally have settled into the routine of vacation (aka Vacay). It took me a while, but I am now relaxed. I think.

Today we went out into the boat and took the ‘traditional’ trip from our Cottage to South Bay Mouth where the Ferry comes into the island. It’s all quite fasinating, you can google it if you would like. But that’s where I am right now. I’ll post pictures when I get back to Port Alice. That’s all for now.