I Survived the Tree of '06

Well, I started listening to Christmas music in June, and last night we wrapped up this year's production with the world's largest tinsel fight. It's hard to beleive that after so many months of planning and hours and hours of works it is really over. But the reviews have been very positive, and I'm happy to say that I'm very pleased how it all came together.
A couple of thoughts. First, I had a lot of fun. Yes, it was a ridiculous amount of work, and at times I felt like I needed to reintroduce myself to my family, but over all, it was a hoot, especially the performance. There is nothing quite like a live production and a live audience to keep things interesting. I have to admit that for the most part it was a very enjoyable experience.
The other thing I have to mention is that I had a fantastic team to work with. It is incredible how many talented and commited people it takes to pull this thing off. I was blown away by the dedication and passion people have for this thing, which when you think about it, is really wierd. A singing Christmas tree? Who's idea was this anyway? But it is a tradition that is alive and well in Nanaimo, and already people are talking about 'next year'. That's a little hard for me to get my head around, especially after being at the church 'til 1:23 AM doing 'take down'. Ah, the Ways of the Tree...

Tree Time

Tree takes shape

Well, the tree is going up. Puts a whole new spin on setting up the Christmas tree. As you may have noticed, its an artificial one. Maybe next year we can go with a real tree. They do grow them big enough out here.Notice our new stage extension...

Back stage isn't so pretty...

Winter Wonderland

We are currently enjoying our three days of winter. It is a fridged -3 degrees!!! Schools are close, Tehillah is cancelled, everyone is hunkered down for the extreme weather. Don't you wish you were here?

A Fall Morning on the Island

Christmas Carols for the Disturbed

It's almost crunch time for the Singing Christmas Tree, and I think all of us involved are showing signs of being 'disturbed'. Here's a list of some of the music we've been working on...

1. Schizophrenia --- Do You Hear What I Hear?

2. Multiple Personality Disorder --- We Three Kings Disoriented Are

3. Dementia --- I Think I'll be Home for Christmas

4. Narcissistic --- Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me

5. Manic --- Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and Trees and.....

6. Paranoid --- Santa Claus is Coming to Town to Get Me

7. Borderline Personality Disorder --- Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire

8. Personality Disorder --- You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll Tell You Why

9. Attention Deficit Disorder --- Silent night, Holy oooh look at the Froggy - can I have a chocolate, why is France so far away?

10. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder --- Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle,Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

Lion's Won...yawn...

I suppose I should be more excited about the Lion's winning their 5th Championship, but I can't get past the fact that the 94th Grey Cup may have been one of the most boring football games I have ever watched. And I even missed mosted of the first half, which by all accounts was the dullest part of the game. The best part of the whole afternoon was when they broke the trophey during the post-game celebration!

I guess when it comes down to it, I'm more of a fan of the CFL than any individual team. I would have been happier if the Lion's would have lost a thriller than for them to loose a sleeper.

And it's just not that 'big game' that was flat. This has been a dull season in the CFL. Few tight games, fewer big plays, and not a whole lot of flash and sizzle. This is something that needs to be addressed, or I might have to start watching (gasp!) the NFL. Bring back the wild, sand-lot football - PLEASE!!! Even the Toronto Star agrees with me that the Grey Cup is not the only thing broken!

We Can Drink Again!

Here's the scoop from the city web site www.Nanaimo.ca
Boil Water Advisory Lifted (except for Duke Point Industrial Park) The Boil Water Advisory for Nanaimo Watershed has been lifted (as of 4:30 PM today, Sunday, November 19) with the exception of the Duke Point Industrial Area which includes the Duke Point Ferry Terminal. The VIHA has indicated that water samples have returned to acceptable turbidity levels. We would like to thank everyone for their patience and cooperation during this time.

I think turbidity has become one of my favorite words...

Water Woes Update

Well, the rain has stopped. For now. Another big storm on it's way for the weekend. We are currently under a boil water advisory because the city water plant got overrun with all the silt in the river. But that is the least of my worries.

After my last post, my neighbor to be Chris, who is building the new house beside us came over to say that he had been informed by the City that neighbors below us had complained about all the water that was running off of our property on to ours. Oh O. As it turns out, property owners are responsible for the water that drains from their property. Oops. Sorry. Didn't know.

So what do you do with all that water? I had visions of going and big buying a wet vac and getting out in the yard and then...well... I guess that wasn't going to work, was it?

As it turns out, the city also informed us that we actually have storm drains at the back of our property. The idea is that we were to build a swail to direct the runoff into the drain and keep the it from going all the way down the hill.

Well, I've never seen any storm drain down our hill, just a couple of man-holes and a clean-out access. But Chris had a map and a metal detector, and sure enough we found one on his property and then we dug up half our back yard and found ours. It had been buried under about a foot of dirt long before we bought the place. Never knew it was there. Would have never found it either, if Chris hadn't given me a hand.

But I'm glad we found it. It only makes sense that the developer would have put one there. I just wish that I would have known about it before we had our basic landscaping done. Now we'll have to get the big digger back in and reshape the lower portion of our lot so that the runoff gets swallowed by our newly discovered drain.

Weather you like it or not

Just in case you're curious, here's a real time weather update for Nanaimo courtesy of the Weather Network.
How 'bout Edmonton?
Vegreville?
Calgary?

No, we haven't floated away...yet...

November can be a miserable month on the coast. We get these intense tropical storms that blow in from Hawaii bring LOTS of rain and wind. We're supposed to get about 100mm or precipitation today, with 80km gusts. Let's just say it's not a great day for yard work. Unless that's your job, like the guys building the house next door.

Speaking of the yard, as most of you know, we a firmly rooted on the side of a steep hill. At least that is my fervent hope on days like this. Our landscaping is unfinished, so there isn't much slowing down the muddy brown rivers the rain has caused to cascade from our property down to our neighbors below. This morning one of our lower level friends (this is meant in a purely geographical sense) was up on the back bank of his property cleverly digging a trench to divert the water away from his yard. Unfortunately he has directed all the water into his neighbor's place. I think those folks should think about building an ark. Or a water park. Oh well, they don't have a basement to flood. And they won't have to fertilize their lawn either...it's kind of like the Nile River flooding it's delta and depositing all the rich nutrients onto the land. At least that's what I was taught in grade 5.

Anyway, enough babbling. Just thought I should post something for all of you who claim to faithfully read my blog. (Yes, Heather, I mean you...)

Changing it up

After 2 years I thought it was about time I changed the look. Any complaints?

Hearing Impaired?

I was reading the other day in Genesis 2 where Satan says to Eve, "Did God really say...?"

It's a question that continues to haunt humans. I don't think I've ever had Satan ask me that, but I have asked it myself. There have been times when I know I have heard a clear 'word from the Lord', but down the road, life cuts in and you begin to wonder if you really heard. "Did God really say...?"

I was sharing our story today with someone today. He really isn't in relationship with me and hasn't journyed with us. He wanted to know why we lived in downtown Vancouver, and then knowing that we are now on the Island said something to the effect of "Well, I guess that didn't work, did it." What I heard was, "Well, I guess you failed."

I didn't take my friends comments personally, but I do wish I had a better explanation for what has transpired in our lives over that past few years. I have tried to understand it, make peace with it, but I still have many questions. In quite moments it makes me wonder "Did God really say...?"

People don't always get 'the message' from God right - that includes me. It would be easier if God dropped a brick from heaven with a note. But that's not the way it seems to happen. I believe he leads us, gives us direction, but that sometimes we read into the story things he wasn't intending. Call it jumping to spiritual conclusions. So then when things don't turn out the way WE expect, we begin to wonder "Did God really say...?" In the mean time, maybe God's saying, "Yes you heard me, but you didn't understand what I was saying..."

Here's what I know for sure. God loves me and my family and doesn't play games with our lives. God does speak to me in a personal way. I am trying to serve him the best I can. Downtown Vancouver was a fantastic experience. Nanaimo is a special place and we are glad to be here. And I choose to walk and live by faith...

Good Question, Paul...

My buddy Paul has an interesting take on what it may take for us as Christians to spend time with people who don't know Jesus. It sparked a really interesting conversation. Check out the blog - click here - , and don't miss the comments...

Happy Hubbub

Well, new neighborhoods are an intersting learning curve. Take last night for instance - most neighbors really decked out thier houses in creepy spiderwebs, bats, and yellow police tape that said DANGER. Then starting about 6 PM we had over 125 kids come knocking on the door dressed up like Mr. Incredible and other assorted superheros and grusome characters. Even most of the accompanying adults were in costume - most of them pretty ridiculous! It was a zoo - literally. I even had to run out for more candy, but the stores were all sold out.

Then our girls got dragged out by some of thier school friends that showed up at the door. I thought they were getting kind of old for that kind of stuff, but when in Rome, do as the Romans. It was a great opportunity to build some relationships with some of thier school chums that live around here. And it's a good thing too becuase when we ran out of candy, we ended up giving away most of the loot they had hauled in! Call it healthy recycling.

So next year...we'll be more prepared. Expect a crowd. Welcome the neighborhood. Chat with the adults. Have fun. Cheer the fireworks. Redeem the night. Be missional in our own querky way.

Janelle & Eli's Wedding

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

Quote of the Week

If you want to win this world to Christ, you are going to have to sit in the smoking section. That is where lost people are found, and if you make them put their cigarette out to hear the message they will be thinking about only one thing: "When can I get another cigarette?"

~ Neil Cole, Organic Church p.xxvii

A Sheepish Poem

Mary had a little lamb
And it was hers to keep
But then it joined the local church
And died from lack of sleep

Life is a blur

Life is a blur. Too often.

When I was a kid I remember sitting in class and watching in the second hand on the clock crawl. There seemed to be an eternity between the clicks. Those days are gone. Long gone.

I can’t believe September is half over.
I can’t believe 2006 is already in it’s fall season.
I can’t believe I’ve been married for 18 years.
I can’t believe I’m turning 39 (GASP!) next week.
I can’t believe both my kids are teenagers.

It’s the grind of daily living that seemingly accelerates life. There seems to be so much to do and so little time to do it, never mind having time to watch the seconds tick off the clock.

It has been pointed out that one of the hallmarks of this period of history is the unprecedented busyness of people’s lives. More responsibilities, distractions and opportunities bombard the typical person than anyone would have imagined just a few years ago. Busy, busy, busy. And overwhelmed.

One of the biggest life lessons we took away from our adventure in the urban jungle is that for the average family with both parents working full time and kids in school, one of the most precious and scarce commodities you have is time. By the time you keeping up with the everyday demands of work, household chores, and family responsibilities, you’ve hardly enough time left to recharge the batteries for the next attack. Fatigue and exhaustion are lingering companions. Quality time for self, family, God, or friends is preciously rare. And then as Christians we add church responsibilities to the mix of work, school, and family…to say nothing of connecting with our community or neighbors.

Maybe I’m overly sensitive to the time demands that the church often places on people and families, but I wonder if our church lifestyle is really part of the solution. Are we helping people get a grip on thier lives and lifestyle, or are we just adding more items to the 'to do' list? I'm not intending to be negative or critical - which is soooo easy. And I hate bringing stuff like this up when I don't have an answer. But I am looking for one.

Right now I’m in the 'gear up for fall' mode. Sunday last was “Round Up Sunday” and it was great. Really. We had our first Singing Christmas Tree practice last night. It was a hoot. Really. And we have our first Island Tehillah on Monday. I’m looking forward to it! Really! It’s all good, enjoyable stuff. But it takes time. Precious time.

Worn-out on Church?

I guess the sub-title says it all: “Worn-out on Church? Finding Vibrant Faith Beyond the Walls of the Sanctuary”. George Barna’s latest little offering is a rant called Revolution. Released last fall, I finally got around to seeing what the fuss was about. Not the fullest take on the issue, but it may rattle some cages if they are a Barna fan. Perhaps it can at least stir up some dialogue on a question that is lurking in the halls of many churches like a white elephant nobody dares talk about.

The issue Revolution tackels is the role the local church should play in the life of the believer. Barna says “Droves of committed believers are foregoing Sunday mornings to live a 24/7 faith unfettered by the clutter and bureaucracy within the church walls.” And it’s not just people embracing a “feel-good, invent-your-own spirituality” that prefer to worship at The Green Cathedral of the 18 Holes on Sunday morning. It’s passionate Christians with a vibrant faith who just don’t have time for the “same old, same old” churchianity and the artificial bubble of the Christian sub-culture. Barna predicts that by 2025 only about one-third of American Christians will rely upon a local congregation as the primary or exclusive means for experiencing and expressing their faith. The rest will be split between a) alternative forms of faith-based community and b) the media, arts, and other cultural institutions (p. 49). I'm not sure what the stats would be, but I'd guess that Canadians are already further along that path that those south of the 49th.

As a Pastor working in a traditional church setting this obviously has some significant ramifications for me. But it’s really nothing new. I remember having this discussion with a number of people that left the first church I was pastoring back in the early 90’s. At that time I thought they were uncommitted, wishy-washy (even back-sliding!) Christians who were going on strike because they didn’t want to tithe or support the vision (my vision?) of the church. Having been around the block a few times in the last 15 years, I’ve been chagrinned to realize that lately I’ve been articulating their side of the argument. I’d like to go back and have those conversations again. Maybe we could have seen something really dynamic released in our community.

Don't get me wrong. I love The Church, even the local small ‘c’ kind of church. But I’ve come to believe that what we mean by 'local church' needs redefining. We can no longer measure the success of a church by the A, B, C’s we have used for so long – Attendance, Buildings, and Cash-flow. The reality is that if only one-third of believers are going to show up on Sunday we won’t have enough resources to staff our programs or pay for our buildings to get the job done in the way that until now we think it should be done.

But from a Kingdom perspective, maybe, just maybe, that’s not a bad thing. Maybe some of the keys to impacting our community that all of us professional pastors are desperately scrambling for are not to be found in a better Sunday service or an improved variety of more elaborate programs. Maybe we should be looking towards releasing, enhancing, and facilitating alternative faith communities. (Like living room churches, perhaps?) But can we as leaders in a traditional local church even go there? How does that impact the local church we are trying to build? (insteresting how we phase that...) Or closer to home, how does this impact my pay cheque?

Or is the right question “How does that impact The Kingdom?”

Hmmmm... Just a thought. I’d like to hear yours…

Uncle Sam Comes for a Visit

Coming across on BC Ferries we looked down the Straight of Georgia to a very large and ominous looking vessel heading our direction. I doubt the Canadian Navy has anything this large or this shape, so that kind of limits the options as to whom it may be. I guess even the US Navy likes to vacation in beautiful British Columbia. This is one time I wish I had a camera with a better lense!

40th Anniversary Slide Show

Wasn't that a Party!

Congratulations to my Mom and Dad who celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary this weekend. October 1 is the actual date, but when something is this exciting, who can wait?

I have a wonderful family. When we gather together for events like these it is awesome to see the impact that godly parents and grandparents can have on the following generations. The influence is profound!

Wild Engineering

Driving out to cow country through the Kicking Horse Canyon we came around one of the many sharp corners and were shocked to see some massive towers strung across the valley. Aperanty the steep and winding goat trail through the bottom of the canyon is going to be replaced by the high road. You really can't get an idea of the scope of this bridge to be from the picture, but it is impressive. Makes you wonder how many people are going to have their acrophobia triggered going across this thing when it is done! Our tax dollars at work...

WE WON!!!

How can you tell we're living in a smaller community? Let me tell ya.

Aileen was reading the local paper, the Nanaimo News Bulletin, last week and noticed the birthday and anniversary section of the classifieds. It said that not only would the paper publish all names provided, but - and I quote - "1 LUCKY PERSON each week (picked by draw) will be awarded a complimentary Dinner for Two at SWISS CHALET, a complimentary 8" DAIRY QUEEN Ice Cream Cake, a gift from GROWER DIRECT and a Portrait from SEARS PORTRAIT STUDIO."

So Aileen saw that and couldn't resist, because today, August 13th is our 18th wedding anniversary. Daleena rolled her eyes and said "Your not REALLY gonna do THAT are you?" But if you know Aileen, you know that she DID do that. And whad'yu know... Thursday night we come home and have a phone message saying that WE HAD WON!

Whoo-hoo!!!

We picked up our marvelous prize package from the palatal offices of the Nanaimo News Bulletin, and if you want to come over for ice cream cake tonight, come and get it while it's hot...er, cold!

I guess we should 'a went out and got a ticket for the big 6-49 draw yesterday...we're on a roll! (Ah, for you religious people out there, the the 6-49 thing is a joke...)

Reality Check for Churchaholics

I picked up this link from my buddy Paul. I don't really know Rob Petkau, but I think his story is worth hearing... Check it out here. Maybe we should start a 12 step program.

What you've been missing

Here a picture just to remind you what you are missing. AUGH! The attack of the boxes!!!
They said it wouldn't all fit in the truck, but we managed to get it all in. Barely. Kind of weird having all your earthly possessions in the back of a truck rolling down the highway with you.
The best part of moving is driving the truck!!! Only this trip, the drive was kind of short. BC Ferries did most the work.

Actually, driving the truck is the second best part. The best part of moving is hanging around with your kids!

We have AWESOME friends!

Well, the deed is done. The Siggelkow family is safely tucked into their new home in the beautiful neighborhood of Cinnabar Valley in beautiful Nanaimo. Life is, er, beautiful.

It's an understatement to say that Aileen and I were overwhelmed by incredible effort so many people put in getting all our stuff on and off the truck. Your kindness is soooooo appreciated! If a person's wealth is measured by his friends, we may well be the richest people on earth!

Step 1: Loading the truck. If you've ever moved in or out of an apartment tower you'll appreciate the unique challenges this affords. First you have to get everything out of your apartment - in this case our 5th floor townhouse - and get it out the door, down the hall, around the corner, and then packed into an elevator that you have to reserve a head of time and have a limited amount of time to use. Then you run the elevator down to the main floor, unload it, and pack everything down the hall, out through 2 more doors and into the loading bay area where you can finally put in onto the truck. The bottleneck is the elevator. You can only put so much into it, the door is not big enough to make it easy, and then if you accidentally bump the wrong button you take the scenic route to the 27th floor...

Thank you Doug, Paul & Wanda, Matt & Jo-Deane, Megan & Katlyn, Chris & Shannon, Vernon & Louise, and Micah & Jen for all your hard work. We weren't sure we were going to get it all to fit in the truck, but we did! And it only took 4-1/2 hours! You are all truly amazing friends - family, really - to show up at the end of an already long day and then work like slaves. You have blessed us profoundly. Now all you have to do is come visit us, okay? Soon, please? We'll feed you and give you a nice warm place to stay a night or two . . . and we won't make you lift anything!

Step 2: Off-Loading. Compared to the load, getting stuff off a truck is relatively simple for two main reasons. Firstly, gravity is working with you this time. Secondly, you don't have to play Tetris with the boxes to make it all fit. Having said that, it is still a whole lot of hard work! Especially when you have to carry a piano(!) and a bunch of very heavy wall units down a dangerous goat path to get in the basement patio door. I couldn't believe how fast the truck was emptied - an hour and 15 minutes and it was all in the house! And the only thing damaged was a glass lamp shade that I broke trying to get it out of the top of the truck. Thanks to all our new Island friends Kevin, Jamie, Matt, Duncan & Vivian, and Jason & Sheila for welcoming us to the neighborhood in a practical way. (And to the guys like Alistair that wanted / planned / went into special weight training to be there and help lift and then didn't get a phone call (oops...) to tell you when and where to show up, my sincere apologies.) Once we get a few boxes unpacked and have found a plate or two, come on over and well fire up the BBQ!

"T" minus 48 hours

You're not going to believe this, but I'm actually going to update my blog. Not that anyone is going to read it because things have been quiet sooooooooo long that nobody is checking things anymore. Can't blame you.

But things have been a little crazy. Moving will do that to you. I've been in Nanaimo for the past 6 weeks, and finally we get to move over as a family. It's about time. I've been going nuts being away from my wife and kids. I can't believe people who have to live that lifestyle long term!

We've almost got the townhouse packed up. Tomorrow we'll finish up, and then Wednesday we'll load the truck. We head for Nanaimo on Thursday, and then Friday we'll get to unload at our new place. Not like it takes a day to drive to Nanaimo...

Then it's a whole new world. Literally. The top picture is life as we know it, taken a few floors above us. What a beautiful city! Below is where we'll be Friday. A bit of a change, but another beautiful city. I haven't mown a lawn in 7 years. But as Aileen is quick to point out, by the look of the yard, I still won't have to.

Happy trails.

Aileen Celebrates a Significant (ahem...) B.D.

Along with all the life altering events we have been processing these past few weeks (see 'Siggy Urbanite Is Moving to the Island'), we have also be planning a major celebration. My lovely wife has reached a mile-stone birthday which called for something special. Her sister Ardis decided she was going to come out from Calgary, as she has been known to do, and spend a week with us during this time, which was special. We also planned a big party for Saturday night, which was SO much fun - thanks, everybody, for coming! Aileen really enjoyed the evening and all the '40' stuff she got!

But the big surprise was today. We decided to go out for lunch ('spontaneously', of course), and when we got to the restaurant there were Aileen's other two sisters from Edmonton, Ang and Pam, with Pam's little 3 month old baby boy Clayton, who Aileen has just been dying to see! You should have seen the look on Aileen's face once she realized what was happening! She was shocked, and everybody was blubbering - they blame that on the Meier side of the family tree...

So we are having a very memorable, special couple of days! It's been in the planning stage for about 10 months, and we managed to pull the surprise off with great effect - which is amazing because we don't do 'surprises' real well. Aileen is thrilled! Ah, what FUN!

Ode to a Neglected Blog

The beauty of the web is forgotten upon thy cyber places: how are the mighty fallen!

Tell it not in MacWorld, publish it not in the streets of Microsoft;

Ye digital mountains of blogspot, let there be no hits, neither let there be links upon you, nor posts from inquiring minds: for the thoughtless ramblings of a half-baked souls are vilely cast away.

My blog was lovely and pleasant in its prime, and in its youth it was updated profusely.

But the creative juices of the keyboard hath grown dim, the careless wit of the senseless rhyme is exhausted.

I am distressed for thee, my blog of blogs. Thou hast been my muse and solace. Yet the tyranny of the urgent hast siezed thy throat.

Pray that thou shalt not be forever forsaken. Soon, yea with the coming of summer, may yet thy fortunes be restored.

Red tape snarls hiring of ER nurses

Aileen's organization made the front page of the Vancouver Sun this week! Oops...not a good thing. You can check out the entire article here, but just remember that there is always more than one side to the story.

Maybe it's a good time to be finished with the ol' job and move on to Nanaimo!

Siggy Urbanite Is Moving to the Island

I’ve got BIG news. I have accepted an invitation to join the pastoral team ET Family Church in Nanaimo, BC. Our family will be relocating to beautiful Vancouver Island sometime in the next couple of months.

I know that will come as a shock to a lot of people. Join the club. It is still a pretty big shock to us, never mind anyone else! But we cannot deny God’s hand in all of this, so we take the step forward with boldness and joy.

If you live in Nanaimo and have some how discovered this obscure corner of cyberspace called Siggy Urbanite, let me say that we are very excited about the next chapter of our lives. We haven’t spent a whole lot of time exploring Nanaimo, but it is an amazingly beautiful place. ET Family Church has a great leadership team that we are honored to join, and being part of Island Tehillah has got me pumped! So please jump into the conversation and introduce yourself. Post a comment or send me an email. We want to get to know you!

As excited as we are about Nanaimo, we are really going to miss Vancouver, especially our precious friends that we have journeyed with over these past couple of years. Our ‘living room church’ family has been so dear to us we feel like a huge part of our heart is being ripped from us. To say this has been a difficult decision is an enormous understatement. We love where we live, we love our church family, we are passionate about the challenge and energized about the potential of ministry downtown, and we have made such great friends among our neighbors. But for some inexplicable reason, we know our time downtown has come to an end.

I guess this is the primary reason why this blog has been pretty much dead the past couple of months or so. We have needed to work through a lot of deep issues. We dreamed so long, worked so hard, and (seemingly) sacrificed so much to get downtown, and now only 24 months later we are moving on. Something of that doesn’t make sense to me, yet I have no doubt it is the right thing.

We have no regrets, and we would not have traded this experience for the world. We feel like we have changed, grown, and matured in so many ways. It has been so much more than a ‘stepping stone’ to the next chapter in our lives, but we do feel like it has uniquely prepared us for that next chapter.

So stay tuned. I never thought I’d live on Vancouver Island, but here we go!

This'll floor ya

Just a quick blurb to let all you cyber junkies know I'm still kicking, at least feebly! It has been a crazy few weeks, but what week isn't? I don't like boring you (or me) with deeply personal stuff like what I had for breakfast or what colour my socks are today and how I made the decision, so if I don't have something mildly interesting or news worthy like major building floods to blog on the best bet is to post zippo. So zippo has been the theme the last few weeks.

But tonight I do have big news. We got our new hardwood floor in the lower level installed this weekend. Got the transition trim down just tonight. Now all we got left is to finish the quarter round molding in a few spots and get felt pads on the furniture. Speaking of furniture, a DIY tip for all you handy people: when laying flooring, do it BEFORE you fill the room with furniture. It's a @%!(*& of a lot less work! Hmmmm. Note to self...

Special thanks to Reuben Jakob for supplying some cool tools and working like a madman and keeping me company for a weekend of blood, sweat, and tears. Okay, so maybe there weren't any tears, but sweat and blood definitely (my hands look like I've been arm wrestling with barb wire). I'll post a pic when I get a chance (0f the floor, not my hands)... but .... right ...... now .......... I'm ............ too ............... tired ............ to ............... type ............ another .....................

The Flood of '06

Early morning phone calls and never good, and it seems like lately I’ve had my share.

Friday morning the phone rings about 5:40 AM. It’s our property management saying they had received a call that there was a major flood in progress in the building lobby.

A major flood in the lobby? You’ve got to be kidding.

So I get dressed and scramble to the lobby, checking the pool on the way down. Water is still in the pool. This is good.

I get to the lobby, and it was a scene from Noah and the Ark. It was like a tropical thunderstorm, only without the thunder. A hot, steamy, jungle rainstorm, INSIDE THE BUILDING! A quick inspection showed that most of the foyer was flooded at least and inch deep, with water dripping from most of the lights. Mail area also had water pouring from ceiling, and the office carpet was soaked, as most water from the mail room was running like a river in that direction. I call the property management and confirm that there is hot water was pouring from the ceiling of the lobby. She says she will call the company that handles our mechanical, to get them to shut off the water.

Security from the Mall arrived at that point, informing me that large amounts of hot water was leaking into the parkade. Did we have problem? I show him the lobby. Houston, we have a problem.

At that point we noticed steam billowing from an open widow on the second floor. It was so thick it looked like smoke. We went to the 2cd floor and found the carpet in the hallway soaked and we could hear water running in the suite. I pounded on the door ‘til my knuckles were red, but did not receive a response. I then went and banged on the apartment next door. They come quickly to the door and in their groggy state of mind they were surprised to see large amounts of water seeping into their suite. I said “This is nothing. You should see the lobby.”

I call the property management again and say we needed to get into the suite with the leak. She said she was calling a locksmith. The neighbor who was getting flooded said “I’m phoning the fire department.” Smart man. I wasn’t associating a flood with firefighters.

The mechanical company arrives and we bang again on the apartment door. Nothing. I’m beginning to think the apartment is empty or the resident is dead in the bathtub.

Seeing as we couldn’t get into the suspected source of the problem determined we should turn off the water for the whole building. I had grabbed the master keys from the office, so we spent what seemed like an eternity running to a half-dozen mechanical rooms between P2, and the penthouse level shut off pumps and closing valves.

Back in the lobby I was concerned that whole ceiling was going to come down as you could see water pooling in the drywall. People leaving for work would come out of the elevator and put up their umbrellas to walk through the lobby. I guess that’s one advantage living in Vancouver – you always have an umbrella handy. I know it rains a lot here, but indoor rain is ridiculous.

The Fire Dept arrived on site and after much more banging on the door they determine they should forceably enter the suite. I call the property management to find that the ETA on the locksmith is 60 - 90 minutes! The Fire captain looks at me: “Do we enter the suite?” and I’m thinking “Why are you looking at me? I’m just a dumb strata council guy!” But thinking that there may be a medical emergency on the other side of the door, I said “You’re the Fireman.” The Firefighter with the fire axe looked excited.

The Capitan called Police to be there for the forced entry. When police arrived they entered suite. It was a literal steam bath! Wet, steamy, and about 35°C! They quickly determined that the hot water supply line for the kitchen sink had burst, causing a flood. I still can’t believe that so much water can come from such a small pipe! All we needed to do to fix the problem was shut the valve off under the sink.

But here’s the strangest part. The resident was in the apartment safe and sound, fast asleep! The apartment was so humid and hot I cannot believe they did not wake up!

So now all that is left is the clean up. It will take weeks. A flood restoration company was on site within an hour, cutting holes in walls, sucking up water, and bringing in fans. Our lobby stinks like a wet dog. Paint is peeled, drywall is wrecked, carpet is stained, and the fire alarm system won’t reset because the detectors in the lobby are wet. Now we have had to hire a security company to provide a 24 hour fire watch.

The moral of the story is replace the plastic water supply lines in your home with the flexible metal ones as soon as possible, or at least wake up when you hear water gushing in your suite!

And don’t call me in the middle of the night.

Sad ending to a great story...

It's not very often that a local church gets to play a small part on an international stage. My brother Doug pastors a church in Edmonton that has just had that unique priviledge, and I think they hit the ball out of the park. You've probably heard the story, which has just now come to a sad ending (although maybe it's really just the beginning). Henry Motta, mentioned below, is my nephew. Way to go NECF! Here's the story from FOTF, or check more detail at CTV.

CHURCH MOURNS AFGHAN BOY’S DEATH

An Edmonton congregation is promising to put to good use the thousands of dollars raised from Canadians across the country left over from an unsuccessful attempt to help save the life of a six-year-old Afghan boy, the Edmonton Journal reported.

Part of the $20,000 raised by North Edmonton Christian Fellowship had been used to send the young Namatullah from Kandahar to a world-class hospital in Lahore, Pakistan, to remove a huge, infected tumor that had ravaged his face, and to combat the cancer that had spread to his lymph nodes and liver. Sadly, despite an initial prognosis by doctors last week that the boy stood a 60-65 per cent chance of making a full recovery, he succumbed two days later to an infection.
“When I got the phone call . . . there was shock and sadness,” Pastor Henry Motta told the Journal. “Right now we are trying to pray for the family and all those who were touched by his little life.”

Motta’s church first learned of Namatullah’s plight when told by Corporal Brian Sanders, a medic stationed at the Canadian Forces base outside Kandahar and a member of North Edmonton Christian Fellowship. The boy’s grandfather had brought him to the base seeking help for the boy, who was thin and frail and near death.

In one Sunday, the 300-member congregation raised $10,000 on his behalf. Roughly an equal amount flowed in from across Canada after the story made national headlines.

Motta said the church is now looking at ways to invest the approximately $10,000 left over after paying for the boy’s treatment and burial to help relieve the unsanitary conditions at a hospital in Kandahar.

“We are learning,” Motta told Canadian Press. “We are finding out it is very difficult. It will take courage, it will take determination. But I believe that we can do something there that will help with the transformation of that society.”

One immediate blessing from this experience, Motta also told the Edmonton Sun, is the goodwill it has generated between the people of Namatullah’s isolated village and Canada’s soldiers in the region. “The leadership of their town declared Canadian Forces their friends,” he said.

Sanders said while he is saddened by the boy’s death, he is confident that the love and generosity that so many Canadians showed towards him was not in vain. “Obviously hopes got raised,” he told the Journal. “Still, Namatullah’s last month was pain-free, he got to ride in an airplane, the lump was gone from his face, and he was smiling and waving when he came back to visit us this week.”

The Depth of Winter in Vancouver

Who says the west coast is all warm and balmy? We get caught in winter's frosty grip too, you know, just like the rest of Canada. (right...) If you look close, you can even see the snow flakes. The amazing thing is they didn't even cancel school!

When one door closes another door opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which open for us.-- Alexander Graham Bell

Big Scare at the Garage

Driving home from work last night I was unable to turn, as I usually do, up Abbott Street for the last 2 blocks of the journey. I was very surprised to see Abbott Street all blocked off by the Vancouver Police. I was even more surprised to multiple fire trucks and squad cars, numerous officers, and the VPD Hazardous Waste Unit guys walking around in funny space suites. Not only that, but several media outlets had reporters there with satilite trucks for 'live, on the scene reporting.'

Thankfully I was able to get to my building, and it was unaffected. But I was curious about what was going down. Now I know:

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) - "A letter containing suspicious white powder triggered a quarantine for several hours at GM Place, home of the Vancouver Canucks. The substance was later determined to be not harmful.

Police say the contents of the package leaked onto a desk when opened by Orca Bay staff Monday. None of the seven employees exposed to the material became ill.

The letter referred to Canucks star Todd Bertuzzi, although no other details were released. Bertuzzi was suspended and reinstated by the NHL for his on-ice attack of Steve Moore in 2004. He played for Canada at the Turin Olympics.

The Canucks were in Dallas on Monday night and lost their fourth straight game."

Interestingly, it would seem that the last sentence of the story is what most people are upset about.

(P.S. The picture I posted is really out of date - it is missing about a half dozen buildings! It's hard to beleive the changes to the neighborhood!)

Start Here...

If you are new to this blog, you may want to click the links and catch the following postings. They will give you a good introduction and important background to our story...

Monday, September 26 - Welcome to My Neighborhood
Tuesday, September 27 - Dream City
Thursday, September 29 - Urban Myths
Friday, October 14 - The Graveyard of Church Planting
Saturday, October 29 - Vanguard Revisited - Vision, Values and CAKE!
Tuesday, November 8 - 90% of the World's Pastors are Bi-vocational
Wednesday, November 23 - Lessons in Anthropological Correctness
Saturday, December 31 - Risk Free or Free to Risk
Sunday, February 12 - The Third Place

Aileen took the test!

Aileen took the test...are we surprised at the result? I'm just glad Kermit and Fozzy get along. And I'm glad she's not Miss Piggy.

You Are Kermit

Hi, ho! Lovable and friendly, you get along well with everyone you know. You're a big thinker, and sometimes you over think life's problems. Don't worry - everyone know's it's not easy being green. Just remember, time's fun when you're having flies!

The Muppet Personality Test

I've Heard of manna, but this is ridiculous

I’ve heard of manna, but this is ridiculous.

There we were sitting in our living room having a great visit talking about church planting with some great friends, Paul and Wanda and Anne-Charlotte to be exact, when suddenly – WHUMPH – there was this unmistakable loud sound of something rather large striking our living room window. So I hesitantly opened the patio door and looked out on our balcony, and lo and behold, there was what turned out to be a loaf of some kind of raisin bread in smattered across the cement. You could see the grease mark where it had hit the window. It was a surreal moment.

This begs the question: why did this loaf land on our balcony? What did we do to incur the wrath of this pastry? And last, but not least, where did this loaf launch from?

There are several obvious possibilities:

1. This loaf is actually a landing craft for some alien being that lives or travel through space, in dough, and the dough cooked into bread upon entering our atmosphere. What we thought were raisins were actually the fried remains of these extra-terrestrial creatures that had come to invade earth.

2. An Air Canada passenger, tired of poor in-flight service and lousy airline food threw his dinner portion out the window of the aircraft, thus causing the load to fall on to our balcony. This person must have been a cleaver fellow because I’ve never been able to figure out how to get the windows on those planes to roll down.

3. A commuting crow from Burnaby was flying home from work in the west end with a large morsel of bread and either lost his grip on it, or was attacked in mid-flight by another jealous and ravenously hungry crow, and ended up loosing his lunch on our balcony. Oh well, at least that is better than what they usually drop on our balcony…

4. A neighbor on one of the upper floors of the Taylor tower was baking and the raisin loaf she / he made was stuck to the pan. In their struggle to release the loaf, they inadvertently lost their grip on it and it went sailing across their kitchen, out their patio door, over their balcony railing, falling across Taylor Street and landed – WHUMPH – on our balcony. An alternate scenario is that after tasting their loaf they thought they could dispose of it by throwing it at us. Or maybe it was some kind of gift…

If you have ever had a loaf land suddenly – WHUMPH – on your balcony, or indeed, any incident similar to this, like a loaf of whole wheat, or even a muffin of sorts, I would love to hear about it. Perhaps you have heard of this kind of event, or have a logical explanation that I haven’t thought of yet, I would like to hear out it. Please enter your comments and let me know.

Which Muppet are You? Part II

Okay, so Paul inspired me to bare my soul and share the intimate secrets of my life. I too have taken The Muppet Personality Test. I was shocked and shagrined at the results! Could this explain my life-long preplexity at people's response (or lack there of) to my humor?

You Are Fozzie Bear

"Wocka! Wocka!"You're the life of the party, and you love making people crack up.If only your routine didn't always bomb!You may find more groans than laughs, but always keep the jokes coming.

The Third Place

At RE MIX with Mike Frost last month, he referred to an interesting sociological concept called "the third place". According to Ray Oldenburg, an American sociologist who coined this term in his book The Great Good Place, third places are "distinctive informal gathering places”. The first place is home, the place of the domestic. The second place is work, or the place of production. The third place is where people can regularly go to take it easy and connect with friends, neighbors, and just whoever shows up. It is the social place. The subtitle of Oldenburg’s book says it all: "Cafes, Coffee Shops, Community Centers, Beauty Parlors, General Stores, Bars, Hangouts and How They Get You Through the Day."

Oldenburg’s point is that these third places are vital to healthy society, and suburbanization of North America has really destroyed the opportunity for the development of and regular involvement in these community forming venues. Frost’s point was that not only are cities loosing their third places, but as missional Christians, we are not taking advantage of these places to connect with others and engage in meaningful conversation. Too often the Christian’s replacement for the third place becomes the church or other ‘Christian’ spaces that further our withdrawal from the world, rather than our engagement with it. But to live this way is not acting as ‘sent ones.’

So what has this got to do with us? Well, one of the things that makes downtown Vancouver special is the purposeful encouragement of third places. Larry Beasley, the planning guru for the city of Vancouver has stated that the goal of neighborhoods like the one we live in is to make the sidewalks of the community the living room of the community. I think this is why a sidewalk café can be a great missional place. People have an innate desire to connect in this way, the city is eager to see these places develop, and as a Christian, what better place could there be to engage my community in meaningful conversation in an environment they accept, enjoy and appreciate? That’s why I’m dying for Paul and Wanda to start their coffee shop across the street from my home.

Hunger Pains

"We excel at making a living but often fail at making a life.
We celebrate our prosperity but yearn for purpose.
We cherish our freedom but long for connection.
In an age of plenty, we feel spiritual hunger."

~ David G Myers

Olympics

Favorite Olympic events:

1. Men's Hockey
2. Free Style Skiing
3. Alpine Skiing

Don't make me watch:

1. Figureskating
2. Sliding Events
3. IOC Press Conferences

Living In Paradise

Okay, so I was whining a bit about the weather. Well, things have changed. The above picture was taken on my way home from work tonight. It's the 2 Road bridge in Richmond, looking west down the middle arm of the Fraser over Georgia Straight to the mountains on Vancouver Island. Wow, what a beautiful sight. (The new Olympic Speed Skating Oval is under construction just off camera to the right, for you Olympic buffs.)

As I was talking to my sister Darla in Saskatchewan this week, and her comment weather wise was "Yeah, it may be wet on the coast, but when it does quit raining, you've got instant summer. When it quits snowing here, we've got 3 weeks of mud."

Then there was Jer Postal reminding me that if you can't stand the rain, head for the mountains and enjoy the piles of powder. (Okay Jer, you made me jealous...)

Yup, a little perspective always helps.

Stephen Harper just can't quit his inner-Evangelical

Here's a great article by David Haskell. You can see the original here. The title caught me - I must admit I was pleasantly surprised...

Stephen Harper just can't quit his inner-Evangelical
Feb. 4, 2006. 01:00 AM
DAVID HASKELL
GUEST COLUMN

Stephen Harper, our newest Prime Minister, is an evangelical Christian. Over the course of the election campaign, certain media outlets, Liberal Party supporters, and members of Canada's intelligentsia have suggested that that makes him different from the rest of us ... us being "average Canadians."

Let me make this perfectly clear (I stole that line from Paul Martin), Harper's faith does make him different, but not in the ways his detractors are suggesting.

As an evangelical, Harper is a strong supporter of traditional marriage but that hardly put him at odds with "average Canadians;" if anything it lumps him in with the majority. Consider this: a poll conduct last year for CBC News found that more than half of Canadians, 52 per cent, said they disagreed with the Liberal government's plan to change the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples.

As an evangelical Harper probably supports some restrictions on abortion (I say probably, because he has never said so himself).

But again, this doesn't set him against most Canadians, it aligns him with them.
A 2004 Environics poll showed that more than two-thirds of the population wants greater restrictions on abortion. In fact, some experts feel that percentage would increase if more Canadians knew that we have no abortion legislation and as such a pregnancy can be terminated up to its final month.

Note that I said Harper, as an evangelical, might support restrictions but not a ban on abortion. I'm basing that on the empirical evidence. While nearly 100 per cent of Canadian evangelicals find abortion morally offensive, research done by sociologist Sam Reimer shows that only about 28 per cent think the procedure should be outlawed. Interestingly, a 2005 Environics poll shows a similar percentage of "average Canadians" are of the same mind as "hard-line" evangelicals believing that "life should be protected from conception."

How do we know that Harper isn't one of the evangelical hard-liners gunning for abolition of abortion? Well, as it says in the Gospel of Matthew: "By their fruits you shall know them."

Harper's track record shows that he's always been a moderate conservative when it comes to social issues.

Read any of the policy or position papers written by Harper from the time he was a grad student at the University of Calgary, to his days as a Reform Party MP, to his stint as head of the National Citizens' Coalition and you will be surprised to find that the only time he talks at length about values is when he is discussing the value of the dollar and how to maximize its potential. Conservative social values, while I'm sure they are important to him, are not what get his motor revved.

People often forget (or perhaps in the case of his Liberal opponents, they choose to ignore) that Harper quit as a Reform MP because his party colleagues often made social issues, and not economic and political reform, their primary focus. After his resignation a report in the Toronto Star referred to Harper as a "moderate." Yes, Canada's national voice of the left, called him a moderate.

While the values stemming from Harper's evangelical faith may seem extreme relative to the values held by national media personnel, Liberal Party insiders and those in ivory towers; relative to the values held by a majority of Canadians they appear pretty mainstream.

But as I said at the outset, in some ways Harper's faith does make him different from the rest of it. Specifically, if Harper is a typical evangelical then chances are he is more prone to be honest than the population-at-large.

Research, also done by Reimer, has determined that because Canadian evangelicals see honesty, fidelity and charity as categorical imperatives and not situational options they tend to show more continuity between what they say and what they do. In the vernacular of evangelicals: if they talk the talk, they walk the walk.

The implications of these findings are staggering: it could mean that for the first time in decades Canadians might have a Prime Minister who doesn't lie to them.

Skeptical? I understand. It may be easy for evangelicals, but for the rest of us ... it's hard to believe in miracles.

David Haskell teaches journalism at the Brantford campus of Wilfrid Laurier University.

Tellin' it like it is...

A tourist arrives in Vancouver on a rainy day. He gets up the next morning and it's still raining. In fact, it's still raining three days later. He goes out to supper and spies a young kid. Out of despair, he asks, "Hey kid, does it ever stop raining around here?" The kid says, "How do I know? I'm only six."

Ain't No Sunshine

Ain’t No Sunshine. Oh rain, rain go away! Come back in…August. We might have dried out by then. I mean, I love Vancouver, and I don’t mind stepping out into a drizzle, but since the middled of December when it all kind of started it has gotten ridiculous. We’ve been in Vancouver for seven years now, and have never thought about building an ark until now. Or maybe booking a vacation to some sun destination…like Calgary. (C’mon…that’s why they call it Sunny Alberta.)

For some dumb reason I was a little disappointed when we fell short of passing the record for consecutive days of rain earlier this month. I think it was that if we had to put up with this liquid, sunless misery, we might at least have something to brag about. Maybe we could buy T-shirts with “I survived the winter monsoon of ’06” emblazoned on them in a dull grey color.

But all is not lost. As it turns out there were only two days out of 31 in January when rain didn't fall at some point -- more days of rain than any other month in the city's history, and in that time 283.6 mm of precipitation fell, beating the old record of 281.8 mm, set in 1992. I guess I could put that on a T-shirt. It would just have to be a big T-shirt.

So now everyone in the city has an excuse for being grumpy. And moldy.

Signing off from a sodden mess.

No answers, just a journey

I’ve been reading a great new book by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger called Emerging Churches ~ creating christian community in postmodern cultures. One of the things about it that I have found affirming are the stories the authors relate of others that have remarkable similarities to the journey we have been on over the past few years. Essentially Gibbs and Bolger set out to listen to the concerns and insights of emerging church leaders, “recognizing that they do not claim to have the answers by are prepared to embark on a journey of faith, trusting God to give them insight and strength in the course of their pilgrimage. They demonstrate a strong commitment to the Bible as their guide for the journey but are seeking to read it with fresh eyes as they shed the constrictions of modernity and endeavor to apply the story of God’s redemptive engagement with humankind in a cultural context that raises new questions and poses fresh challenges.” (Emerging Churches, p.11)

One of the aspects of that quote that resonates with me is not claiming to have the answers, but being prepared to embark on a journey of faith. It has been frustratingly wonderful to make the move that we have for the purpose of catalyzing a community of new believers in this urban neighborhood, but moving without a plan how to do it. In fact, we purposely avoided a preconceived ministry agenda because we felt they would be founded on misconceptions and inaccurate assumptions about the community we were coming to. Looking back on the last 2 years, I see there have been pro's and con's to this, but over all I think this is one thing we did right.

When we were discussing with other Christian leaders the challenges and opportunity in downtown Vancouver, the assumption that was often expressed was the need for a “long-range plan” and a “high-powered team” - almost a militaristic paradigm. This would be something that they would endorse and consider supporting financially. Well, we don’t really have a plan, and from all appearances we probably look pretty weak – at least that is how we feel. But perhaps in our weakness He will show himself strong, and in our willingness to be like Abraham and wander without a map, God will take us to a good place that we couldn’t have gotten to on our own. All I know is that it has been an adventure!

It’s not a journey to find the answers ~ the answer is to embark on the journey.

More Election Thoughts

Last night's election result just highlights one more time why we have to be missional in our approach to church. Much of our denomination (er, fellowship...) is rural, small 'c' conservative in heritage and geography, even if the Hebden Mission in Toronto and other cities like Winnipeg were centers of Pentecostalism - almost 100 years ago! But our cities have moved on. We have to move with them.

Siggy Urbanite Gets To Vote

Well, an election night that is more interesting than most in recent memory. When the TV coverage hit the air waves in BC the first words out were still the news that the government had already been decided long before BC polls closed. Oh well... People out here whine about that to a ridiculous extent, but aside from realigning the country on a vertical axis, not much can be done. (If we're going to do that, I vote to put Ottawa up at the top where it is the coldest.)

We trudged out through the mist and fog to exercise our democratic franchise about 10 minutes after the polls open at 7 AM. It was a relatively painless procedure marking the X, and then we were off to work to wait the results at the end of the day.

Our riding is Vancouver East, probably the safest NDP riding in the country. True to form, our incumbent Libby Davies was returned with a huge landslide. And that's even without my vote. (Sorry Libby...)

NDP - 56%
Liberal - 24%
Conservative - 13%
Green - 6%
Canadian Action Party - 1%

This is where I live. The numbers will likely change a percentage here or there as the final polls come in, but that is a snap shot of my neighborhood.

Living on the edge of the poorest neighborhood in Canada, I understand the popularity of socialism in the riding of Vancouver East. But what I don't understand is why the rest of Vancouver insists on voting Liberal. I understand it, but I don't get it. I guess being born and raised on the prairies skews my brain and addles my thinking.

What strikes me most is the polarization of our Country - not the east / west split, but the rural / urban split. The Toronto, Vancouver, most of Montreal, and even some of Winnipeg went Liberal, with a smattering of NDP (or Bloc). The rest of the country (and the key word is 'country') west of Quebec went Conservative. (Edmonton and Calgary are the exception...but there are other key issues at play there.)

The issues in the urban centres are moral, especially abortion and to some extent, same sex marriage. I know that some of the elected Liberal MP's are outspoken pro-life advocates, but I believe that if Stephen Harper was pro-choice, or if there was some push in the Conservative Party to be softer on this issue, they would have appealed to more voters and probably won a majority government. But too many in our country are fearful of the social conservativism of the Conservative Party, especially on the key issue of abortion. Thankfully the new Prime Minister of our nation and many of his caucas are pro-life, but I'm deeply saddened that the government of our country hinges on this tragic issue.

Re-Mix with Mike Frost

Saturday was a treat. Paul Moores and I hit the re-mix.ca conference to hear Mike Frost of The Shaping of Things To Come fame. Having read and loved his book, I wasn’t too shocked by what he had to say, but what did impress me is that as good as his book is, he’s an even better speaker. His presentation was dynamic! If you ever get a chance to catch him, it will be worth crossing the street.

Frost's message is that we need to let go of the paradigm of church that isn’t working. We were never meant to be a religion, an institution, or an organization, but a movement of missional, actional love. God is love, and if I realy love you with God's love, I will extend myself into your world so that you may become more of what God desires. The primary movement of the Christian experience is the movement outwards into the lives of others. As ‘sent ones’, it’s not about us or about you coming to us! Church is not about what we do when we gather together – do that however you want, but understand it’s not just about “alternative” ways of doing church. It’s about being sent, abandoning our own issues / needs / self-interests and GOING and seeping into the cracks of society and being with others.

I guess that’s what we’re trying to do. Our understanding of church has grown as we experience church in a way I could have never imagined even a year ago. Church without pulpit & pew or stacking chair & video projection. It’s not about the meeting, the music, the preaching. It’s about going and being with others who are not yet at 'the meeting'. Our experience of Worship and The Word is very different. I'm not sure churchaholics wouldn’t get their fix. But having been in detox from the drug of Churchianity, the freedom to focus on GOING and OTHERS is very satisfying.

Another frantic week

Well, another frantic week at the Siggelkow household. Maryn's in swimming twice a week now, so Tuesdays and Thursdays are a race to get home get fed and get to the pool by 6 PM. But it's cool to see the fish in her natural environment!

The BIG EVENT was Daleena’s 14th birthday. Wow – why is it that when the kids have a birthday it’s the parents that feel so much older? And then Daleena has the audacity to say “You know Dad, in two years I’ll be sixteen…” Argh!!! What next? Boyfriends, university, marriage ~ GRANDCHILDREN!!!! It’s as if I see my life passing before my eyes in an instant. (I guess I’ve got to readjust my self-concept – I’m not just a newlywed kid out of college anymore!) But life is good. Daleena is an awesome person and has been such an incredible blessing to us.

Thursday was a morning spent with my Emerging Leader’s Cluster, a small group of young-ish-but-not-really Pastors from the area who meet several times a year to track with each other’s lives and learn from each other’s journeys. We were missing a couple of guys to the flu etc., but it was still a great morning. I must say that I did experience considerable whiplash when I went into Oak-Way for a couple of hours later that afternoon. Sometimes it seems like the world of the pastor and the world of commercial furniture and millwork are light years apart. The longer I am out of the church scene, the harder it is to relate…but the guys I hang with are true friends that make it an exceptional experience not to be missed. And I think that my weird life and experience does bring something unique to the table.