One Thursday night, not so many nights ago

One Thursday night, not so many nights ago, I was wandering the halls of the church while my son, Daniel, was at the high school youth group, Elevate. Now, if you don’t know otherwise , you might believe that Northview is fairly quiet in the evening, but au contraire! My partner in my meandering that other night was my two year old percussion obsessed son, Liam. In order to distract him from the allure of the drum kit in the youth center which he had already cast eyes upon, I told him that we were going to look for the “Enchanted Drum Land” which existed somewhere in the depths of the church. So, the quest began.

First, we were drawn by the melodious siren sound of Johnny & his band of merry worshippers rehearsing in Johnny’s office. As we peeked in through the window, it was like peering through the looking glass as we were greeted by a sight of worshipful merriment. If you have not before seen the tight confines of Johnny’s office, the sight was akin to one of those sea going clippers with attending masts & rigging all contained within the narrow embrace of a glass bottle.

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So, what are you watching these days?

So I went to one of these huge electronic stores the other day looking to buy a memory stick. Like a kid in a candy store I was fascinated by the electronic gadgets on display. My eye caught a huge sign in the store which read, “Home Entertainment Section”. That section had every TV imaginable. Big ones, small ones, flat screens, you name it… it was all there! It wasn’t long before I began fantasizing about how I would someday buy a particular television that matched a certain home theatre system. Salesmen soon noticed my hankering and chose to periodically interrupt my fantasies seeking to make a quick sale.

Looking at the entertainment systems on display, I was reminded of a sermon I heard where the preacher likened a television to a sewer disposal pipeline. “That’s rather harsh”, I thought, but the preacher went on to ask the congregation to imagine themselves going to city hall and asking the city council to hook a sewer disposal pipe into their living/family rooms. What is more is that you would have to pay the city for the “service”. According to that preacher, TV does more harm than good to a person/family/community because it promotes values that are contrary to God’s Word.

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What generation are you living for?

In Coleman’s’ book, The Master Plan of Evangelism, he asks the question: “What generation are you living for?”  If you are like me, it will cause you to pause and think.  Where is your focus … really?  What are your priorities … who/what do you care about? The here, now, me and mine … or do you desire to look beyond yourself in order to give of yourself to others. I believe that the later is the desire of the majority of us. So, do we understand the biblical implications and responsibilities of reaching beyond ourselves to the ones who come after us? In an article written by Mark Steiner, he states that “In this generation as never before, cultural gravity relentlessly pulls Christian children down – and they are drowning. 

Statistics warn us that eight of every ten Christian kids are drinking in the world’s value system.”  Can we honestly say that we are concerned about the generation that is currently flooding the hallways and classrooms of our own church?  Namely, kids?  Noisy, messy, bouncy, happy and sometimes grumpy kids!  Scripture confirms that kids are valuable, so valuable in fact that Jesus uses children to illustrate the way each of us need to come to Him. “Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” And in another place Jesus adds, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them.  For to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”  God has placed kids here to carry on His plan, long after we are gone. Children believe easily but God does not want us to be unaware of the importance He places on loving, caring and training of these children.  It needs to be intentional; kids must be taught to obey, to respect God and others, to praise God and to serve. 

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Blog questions: September

Blog questions:

Sure, I have raised three kids, but my kids are all grown and on their own now. 

I have been reading books and the information is great, thought provoking and sometimes even inspiring. 

But I would really like to know what real Canadian parents think. 

If you are a parent, I would love for you to take a few minutes, and answer the questions that I will be posting each month. 

So, check out the question, think it over and let me know what you think.

 

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Partiality

This week’s sermon on Partiality and Prejudice reminded me of a conversation I had with a group of young women. The question of prejudice came up and at first we doubted its presence in our circles. Hadn’t we come a long way from slavery and the KKK? BUT the more we pondered, the longer the list became. Think of these:
    Western and Eastern Canada
    Home owners and the homeless
    Young and old
    Caucasian and Native or East Indian or ______ (any other culture)
    Male and female
    Employers and employees
    Those with children and those without children
    Married and single
    Kempt and unkempt
    Educated and uneducated
    White collar and red necks
    Athletic and non-athletic
    Musical and non-musical
    Technically update and non-techy
    Moneyed and poor
    Those who holiday regularly and those who don’t
    Those with the “right” friends and those with the “wrong” friends
    How bosses treat clients and how bosses treat their employees

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